RWBY - TEAM HAVC
by BuBleGum21
Summary: A winged girl, a dragon faunus, a loudmouth musician and a mysterious swordswoman. This unlikely bunch must now do their best to work together but things don't exactly go smoothly between them. Join Team HAVC (Havoc) as chaos ensues in their new lives at Beacon Academy for Huntsmen and Huntresses! (AU) Chapters are ALWAYS work in progress and small amendments will ALWAYS be made!
1. Introduction - Mysterious characters

**Welcome to my very first story ever! Honestly, I just one day came up with this idea and I couldn't get rid of it, so I finally decided to share this with whoever feels like reading it. Whoever may be interested in reading this story, please keep in mind that when I upload a new chapter, it'll rarely be done already, but most likely will still be a work in progress.**

 **If you have** ** _actual_** **constructive criticism or any recommendations or advice on how to improve this story (and not just 'this is shit, stop writing it'), feel free to hit me up with a review!**

 **That being said please keep in mind, dear reader(s), that this story takes place in an AU and contradicts some of the previously established canon lore, as someone has kindly brought to my attention recently! Enjoy!**

* * *

"Oh honey, I'm so proud of you!" Elizabeth said, hugging her daughter, Hannah. She had reason to be proud. Today was the first day of a new school term. That, and it was also oficially the first day of Hannah attending Beacon Academy. She had finally graduated from Signal and was now moving on to the next step in her training as a Huntress.

"Thanks mom. I just hope people will be a bit more... mature than what I'm used to. I'm a bit scared of what others might think..." Hannah said.

"Don't be, honey. Some kids your age haven't even discovered their semblance yet. And yours is very useful too. I'm sure you'll get top marks. Everyone wants to be friends with the best students. Makes them look good in turn." Her mother replied. "Now go! You'll be late. Are you sure you won't take the shuttle? Beacon academy is quite a high way up."

"No, I'll go myself. Love you mom. Bye!" And with that Hannah exited her home and took off. __Well, I guess it can't really be that much worse than Signal…__ She thought as she made her way across the city's roofs.

* * *

A young Vale police officer was feverishly working, doing paperwork when he saw a familiar figure approach. "Oh, Professor Ozpin, we weren't expecting you. How may I help you? I'm sorry if I seem a little on edge but we've got a security situation and -"

"I know. I'm here to manage your situation. Where is he?" Professor Ozpin replied, taking a sip from his cup of coffee and adjusting his glasses.

"Oh... well, I mean we have it under control right now, but I don't think it is safe -" the policeman tried to explain before he was interrupted again: "I know. Just bring me to him."

Ozpin and his escort approached a simple, steel door with a small window built in on eye height. In front of the door, eight heavily armored Policemen armed with Riot shields were standing watching the door, as if they were waiting for it to open.

"Let me talk to him."

"But Professor -"

"Just open the door." Ozpin was the only one standing in front of the door as it slowly swung open and after the rustling of heavy chains, a growling, loud voice came from the darkened room inside: "Let. Me. OOOOOUUUUUT!" shouting the last word and with it engulfing the entire entrance area and Professor Ozpin in a giant torrent of flame. Ozpin didn't seem to be bothered much by it. "Good evening to you too. You must be Aldric. I've heard a lot about you. Tell me young man: how would you like to come to my school?"

* * *

A young man in absurdly colorful clothing was standing in the train on his way to the beacon shuttle and listening to his usual, just as absurdly abstract music while slightly shaking his feet to the beat. He liked all kind of music, the most modern songs just held the most inspiration.

While listening and thinking about this and that, he suddenly felt a tug on his coat. He turned around and a woman with a child in her arm was looking and she wasn't looking happy. She motioned at her ear, asking him to take off his headphones.

"Could you please turn down the volume? There are other people here too, you know." The young man quickly looked at his reflection in the window, and as he suspected saw his hair lit up like it was Christmas, flashing and swirling in all shades and colors. "Sorry miss. Won't happen again", he said with a smile and quickly turned off his semblance stopping the light show and gathering quite the attention from everyone present.

* * *

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" a vale policeman shouted, as he saw multiple teenagers mercilessly abusing a girl about their age. As soon as they saw him, they took off, as most of these delinquents would, since they lacked the spine to deal with authority. He rushed over to the injured girl. "Are you alright?"

Her hair, face and snow white suit was covered in dirt and blood, most of her injuries seemed to be results of cuts made with the bloody katana lying in the street next to her.

"I am. Thank you. You should not have intervened." she replied monotonously while picking up the katana and quickly wiping off the blood. "Just what were they doing with you..." "They tried to rob me. I said I didn't have any money." The same monotonous voice. It almost seemed as though she didn't care...


	2. Good morning Beacon!

_Wow, the tower's even larger than I expected…_ Hannah thought, as she landed in front of the Shuttle that had just brought a fresh batch of students to Beacon. Many were looking curiously, some were just bluntly staring at her.

Hannah obviously knew why they were staring. She'd gotten used to it. It was her wings, of course. Unlike many thought, Hannah was not a Faunus. She was human. Her semblance was just, that a pair of large, white, feathered wings grew out of her back. Pretty useful, pretty hard to hide and sometimes quite cumbersome.

The human traffic continued slowly as the large mass of students in the front yard of Beacon started heading towards the school. Hannah stood at the cliff and admired the view over the city. It was so beautiful. An entire modern civilization, and she was standing at the peak of its combat prowess.

As she turned to leave, without looking, Hannah bumped into someone and lost her orientation for a moment. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you -" She began, but stopped immediately, because to her surprise she couldn't find the face of whomever she'd just bumped into. All she initially saw, was abs.

Like a bare mountain range of muscle towering in her face. As she looked up, she saw the man's face. He really was a mountain. Easily three heads taller than her, with an emotionless face.

He had a lot of scars across his body, which were easily seen as he apparently didn't bother to wear a shirt or other kind of top. He had bright blonde hair, which seemed short, but the actually long hair was tied into a strong rope by bandages, which he wore as a scarf.

He looked down on her. She felt like he was about to crush her head with his bare hands, such power was emanating from his imposing figure.

Instead he didn't do anything. He didn't say anything either, he just looked at her. He moved his face closer to hers. Uncomfortably close, until their noses almost touched. _What the hell is he doing?_ Hannah thought in fear.

His crystal blue eyes just stared deeply into hers. Then he looked over her shoulders and inspected her wings. After that he just looked her in the eyes one more time, turned away and left.

"Well isn't he a weirdo..." Hannah heard someone behind her say. She turned to see a young man, about her age with ridiculously colorful clothes, hair AND headphones. He was wearing a neon green sweater, pants of the same shades and neon yellow headphones over his bright blue hair.

"uhm... yeah..." She answered, not sure on how to respond to that, especially coming from _him_ since he was easily just as weird.

"So. What's your name? You a first year too?"

"Yeah, I am. My name's Hannah. What's your name?"

"Wait, You're a first year and your name is Hannah? You were top of the year at Signal, weren't you?" Hannah was impressed that he knew that. She didn't really expect anyone to recognize her because of that. They'd started walking towards the School's main building.

"Wow. Didn't think anyone would recognize me because of that."

"Nailed it! Well, we're supposed to form teams, right? Best to do your homework when the big tests come up. Oh where are my manners, I'm Vybe. Vybe Berg."

"The amateur DJ?" "one and only" he said beaming a smile at her.

It seems as though he wasn't recognized by strangers on a regular basis either. "So who was the big guy? Was he bothering you?"

"No, not really... he was just..." "Weird?" "Yeah... I bumped into him and he just stared at me..."

"Well, to be fair you ARE quite the sight to see" Vybe said. Hannah ignored his comment and looked at her Scroll.

"We should head for the hall in beacon tower. I hear professor Ozpin will give us a speech."

Although Hannah tried to forget about this odd encounter, she ended up wondering multiple times about who the silent stranger was.

* * *

After the entrance ceremony, the second and third year students were directed to their classrooms, as the first years were asked to find themselves at beacon cliff.

Professor Ozpin was in the middle of explaining the rules. "And so the teaching staff and I have decided to make a slight adjustment to the education program of this institution. As many of you may already know we used to form teams of four by putting teams of two together based on decisions made in the forest, but this is no longer the case."

A lot of murmuring went around the crowd.

"Instead, you will now be partnered up with one individual, the first person you make eye contact with in the emerald forest, building an array of two-man or woman tag teams. You will proceed to the northern part of the forest, where you'll find an outpost of the school. Once there, you will enter your fingerprints as well as your partner's name and semblance into a computer terminal, to confirm your reaching the location. It is recommended that you exchange information about yourselves as well as confront the creatures of Grimm along the way to get a feeling for your individual fighting styles. When you return to the school, you will be asked questions about your partner's combat abilities and be assigned another tag team to form your team of four based on combat abilities entered by your partner in the outpost and answers given when you return to the school. That is all. Prepare your landing strategies," he quickly glanced over at Hannah, who'd already spread her wings. "or whatever you intend to do once we launch you" and adjusted his glasses.

* * *

Hannah was flying across the forest, keeping an eye out for other students. It was in her best interest not to walk, since flying was much faster and safer since the only real threat in the air was a Nevemore, of which she'd already disposed off a few.

They weren't Giant Nevermores, but still large enough to be a threat, though in aerial combat not much is a threat to Hannah. The only problem was that she also had to keep an eye out for a potential partner, but the canopy was too thick.

She was just beginning to think that she should maybe land and have a look around below the canopy, when her train of thought was so rudely interrupted: "WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she heard Vybe shout as he shot past her at higher speed than she'd usually be comfortable with, standing atop what looked like a very complocatedly constructed mixture of electronic mixboard and hoverboard. _Maybe I should avoid eye contact with him... he's nice but he seems too reckless..._

At that moment hope was reignited in her heart, as she saw an explosion to the east of the Forest.

An explosion meant a fight. A fight meant a possible team mate.

Hannah rushed over as fast as her wings would carry her and landed a safe distance away. She quietly made her way through the thick trees to find a horrifying sight. The last person she wanted to meet alone in the rather dark Emerald Forest: The tall, blonde stranger. He was surrounded by at least twenty, maybe thirty Beowolves. And to make matters worse, he was unarmed.

Hannah was about to jump to his side to at least help him, when one of the Beowolves suddenly pounced at their intended prey. She did **not** expect to see what she saw and her eyes went wide as she watched this man smash a Beowolf's head into a dark, messy paste with nothing but his bare fist.

 _Wow... he really could have crushed my head with his bare hands._

Struck by awe, she just watched, as this man started decimating Grimm after Grimm with nothing but brute force. He fought fiercely, like a rabid animal. Without any regards to his own safety. Naturally he also took quite a bit of damage in turn, and not long after Hannah started watching this spectacle, she noticed that his Aura had depleted and he was now taking direct damage and sustaining injuries.

That was when Hannah noticed something strange about him: He was... _changing_. His skin... it was turning... scaly. She got a clear view of him: His skin was turning into scales, his nails into claws, his teeth into fangs and sprouting from his forehead was a pair of horns crowning his hairline towards the back of his head.

Reality caught up with Hannah, as in his fighting rage and a moment of missing focus the stranger was suddenly pinned by a large Alpha, holding down his arms. Hannah didn't hesitate, pulled out Shrike, her trusty lightning glaive. Shrike, as all Signal students' weapons was from her own design. Basically a large polearm – a glaive – that runs on electricity and lightning dust and can fire Lightning. Hannahrushed out of the brush to aid him, but again, she misjudged the situation.

The man opened his mouth wide and with a roar like rolling thunder his throat started swelling in a bright yellow light and within an instant the top half of the Alpha was incinerated by a destructive torrent of flame. But at that moment, he was not a man... he was an animal.

 _This was a bad idea. I better leave before he notices me._ Hannah thought and went to turn and leave, when she heard a low growl behind her. She cursed herself for not keeping an eye out, as she turned around to have just enough time to dodge out of the way of an Ursa's heavy swing of its claws; jumping closer to the stranger.

She was in a bad spot. An obviously dangerous man to her one side, and an Ursa to the other. She traded a few blows with the Ursa. It was obviously the slower and therefore an easier to beat opponent, if she could kill it quickly.

That was until she made the mistake of trying to block an attack with Shrike instead of dodging, resulting in her Glaive being ripped from her hands. She heard a roar and saw the stranger, who'd now disposed of all the Beowolves turn towards her, fire in his eyes, fangs bared. Panic took Hannah.

 _Oh my god, what do I do... What do I do, what do I do?_ She was about to try and take off, Chances were slim, but maybe she could fly away from them, but it was already too late. She saw the Ursa reeling back for another heavy swing and the man pouncing at her. All hope lost, she started cowering in a final attempt at survival, and after what seemed like an eternity she heard the horrible sound of tearing flesh and the roars of this monster spouting more destructive fire.

No pain... no wounds... was she still alive? She opened her eyes to see: A dead Ursa, disintegrating underneath the bloody mess that was this person. He turned towards her again, but not menacingly. More... instinctual. Curious.

He walked up to Hannah, her panic slightly diminished, but she did her best to not make any sudden movements. He came dangerously close to her face again. He gently took her hand and held his against it... almost like he'd just made a huge discovery.

Hannah was just standing still to make sure he wouldn't eat her alive, until she mustered up the courage to say "uhm... hello? I- I'm Hannah" "Han-nah" he repeated slowly. Then he just turned, lay down amidst the bloody mess of corpses and fell asleep.

Before, Hannah had felt this need to run, but now... he didn't seem all that dangerous to her. Just confused. And after all, he did make pretty intense Eye-Contact with her, which technically meant that she'd have to be his partner. So for not wanting to break the rules, she decided to sit down next to him and wait for him to wake up.

* * *

Hannah closely observed his transformation progress. While asleep, he was slowly turning back into looking like a human. His horns, fangs and claws retracted and his scales shimmered and disappeared.

After a while he finally woke up. "Hello. Good to have you back", Hannah tried to start their conversation on the right foot. He looked her over "Earlier... The shuttle bay" He said. He had a very deep and strong voice, fitting of his gargantuan appearance.

"Yes, that's me. My name is Hannah. Who're you?" "Aldric" "Well, it's nice to meet you Aldric. I hope we make a good team", Hannah said unsurely. "So. What was with that fight? Was that your semblance?"

As she mentioned his semblance, he suddenly turned to her, grabbed her by the arms and asked with sudden panic: "My Semblance? It activated? Oh no! Are you alright?" "huh? uhm... yes. You killed quite a few Grimm and saved me from an Ursa. Thank you, by the way." "Welcome" He said in a relieved sigh.

"So that was your semblance. You're not a human are you?" "No." "You're a Faunus, right? A dragon Faunus" Hannah had heard stories about some very few who had the ancestry of Dragons. "Human, Faunus, no different. All the same to me."

They sat there a while, resting, waiting for Aldric to regain his strength. "So Aldric. Can you explain your semblance to me? You know we need to put in each other's information at the terminals."

He sighed and slowly began: "Awakening. The angrier I get, the stupider I become, my strength grows and my animal side takes over. Of course, once I'm already very angry, it's all the more easier to get even more angry."

"That does seem like a little bit of a setback." "hm." "Well, my semblance are my wings", Hannah said cheerfully, trying to chase away the thick gloom hanging in the air. "You're not Faunus?" "No, I get that a lot, though" "hm."


	3. A Chance Meeting?

Vybe was making his way through the thick brush of the forest, listening to some hard rock music. This was the perfect occasion for rock. It kept him motivated and made him pick up his pace a bit.

Vybe had a pretty good sense of direction so keeping north wouldn't be a problem for him, but he still hadn't encountered anyone, except when he zoomed past Delilah on his weapon shortly after they'd been launched, but he'd been having so much fun and didn't think of making eye contact with her, which was now turning against him.

 _ _Would've been a good Idea to team up with her. She seems like she can handle herself__ _._ Vybe thought, as he went through another thick bush, only to suddenly come face to face with a Beowolf.

He was a bit surprised, but quickly activated his semblance, letting out a high, sharp whistling sound, stunning the Beowolf with horrible Agony in its head and ears before quickly blasting off its head with his shotgun. He'd gone through this procedure quite a few times, so he knew pretty well, what sounds to use to stun what kind of opponent.

As he continued he was getting kind of desperate to meet up with _anyone_ , so he decided put his semblance on and off again and again, hoping to gather attention from someone in the vicinity. He also made sure not to muffle the sound of his Gun when killing a Grimm. It was risky, since Grimm would hear him as well, but it was a matter of necessity.

He let out a sigh, after his second encounter with an Ursa, while reloading his Shotgun, when he heard a voice behind him: "You are a very efficient fighter." Instinctively he turned around, alert. In front of him was a woman. He'd seen her at the entrance ceremony and when they were launched into the forest. She had raven black hair, with a snow-white business-like suit, carrying a simple Katana.

 _ _Finally…__ Vybe thought. He grinned at her. "Well what can I say? Gotta make the most of what skills I have! What's your name? You got a partner yet?"

"Caroline. Caroline Mearam. And no, I have not yet met up with anyone. Until just now, that is."

"Great. Guess that means we're a team then!" Vybe said. He was slightly put off by her monotonous demeanour and the fact that she got this close to him without him noticing. "My name's Vybe Berg." He looked up into the sky, shielding his eyes from the sun and trying to find north again.

"So, shall we-" He stopped because he couldn't find her again. She was just gone.

"uhm… Hello? You there?"

"North is this way" He jumped as she suddenly said that behind him, pointing in the direction he was originally going. "Yeah… let's go." She could move without making any noise, this surprised Vybe, even when she wasn't wearing armor, there were plenty leaves and other things around on the ground, that would make noise when stepped on.

They went on walking in awkward silence for a while, until Vybe decided to break the ice and put on some music.

He activated his semblance and played a nice relaxing tune. Caroline looked to him, and pointed at his now pale blue and purple glowing and slowly waving hair.

"So this is your semblance I assume?"

"Yeah. ** **Sound Projection****. Basically, I can make people hear what I want them to hear. Good for DJ-ing, composing, confusing enemies and to hurt people's ears." He laughed. Caroline immediately went silent again.

"Sooo… What's your semblance?"

"It is called ****A Price to Pay****." Again, she continued walking in silence. Vybe sighed.

"And what does it do?" Caroline stopped and went to stand in the shadow of a tree. Then, without a sound, she just disappeared in the ground.

"Woah! You still there?" She reemerged, but only her torso, head and arms were sticking out of the ground.

"My semblance lets me merge with shadows. I can partially disappear or fully, though I am bound to the shadow of the object I'm currently inhabiting, unless it mixes with another shadow. While partially manifested like this,"

She pulled out her Katana and made a small cut in her finger

"the manifested parts of my body are susceptible to damage." She showed him her bleeding finger.

"Uhu… interesting. Wait, what's with the name then? _A Price to Pay_? What's up with that?"

"We should get moving", She said in the same monotonous voice and continued walking. _ _Yay, I get the one who doesn't know that fun exists… I see this is going to be a great partnership…__ Vybe thought as he went to follow her.


	4. Off to a Good Start

An hour ago Hannah thought teaming up Aldric was a good idea. Now she wasn't so sure anymore.

She tried to get him to listen to her tactical propositions, but he was just stampeding through this forest, devastating anything that got in his way and eating up a significant amount of time every time he decided that he had to completely annihilate any lone – or not so lone - Beowolf or Ursa he saw.

Hannah found herself flying closely above and behind him most of the time, desperately trying to keep him on track northwards. She even resorted to blasting Shrike's lightnings in front of him a few times, when he got too sidetracked.

 _This is a disaster… How will I ever be able to get strategies into his head if all he does is bang his head against a problem until it goes away?_ She decided to try and reason with him again while they were doing yet another short rest.

"Aldric, I like your fighting spirit, but", she pointed at her watch. "We really need to get going if we want to get to that School outpost before dark. We only have a few hours of time left and there will be many more grimm around during the dark."

"We shouldn't fight them?" Aldric asked. He seemed surprised.

"No, right now we need to prioritize the mission: Get to the outpost. We probably won't make it back to the Beacon Campus today, but that's not necessary. After we get there, we can take our time on the way back, but we need to hurry, do you understand?" He said nothing for a short while, pondering what she was suggesting.

"Fine. What direction?" _Yes! Finally, some cool, calculated judgment._ Hannah took off a few feet to get a clear sense of where they had to go.

Orientation was pretty easy because as long as she was above the canopy she could already see the roof of the Beacon outpost.

She pointed out the direction to Aldric, as he suddenly pointed and shouted: "WATCH OUT!" as a Giant Nevermore came at Hannah, full speed. She dodged its piercing beak, but found herself being pursued by this enemy. She didn't have time to think about direction; survival and maneuvering were more important right now.

Hannah hit the grimm a few times with Shrike, every time coming closer to its beak and taking some hits to her aura as it flew by trying to cut her with its wings. This Nevermore was persistent.

Aldric tried a few times to reach it with his Fire, but they were too high up, even when Hannah tried to lure it into Aldric's attack range, it changed its tactics to hit and run and ranged combat, shooting razor sharp feathers at Hannah whenever it made a turn.

Hannah, against her better judgment, decided to land when she saw an opening in the canopy, quickly diving under the leaves and running as fast as she could, which was honestly not fast, she wasn't used to a scenario in which she had to flee on foot.

Feathers crashed through the trees in her general vicinity as she kept running, hoping Aldric would catch up with her or to somehow shake this Grimm off, as she burst out of the underbrush to a very surprising sight: She was in front of the Beacon Academy outpost, and right in front of her was Vybe, just coming out of the building with a woman in white with black hair.

He looked at her surprised, smiled and said to the woman whom Hannah assumed to be his teammate: "See? Her. She's the one I was telling-"

"NEVERMOOOORE!", Hannah shouted, interrupting his friendly chat while still running, as the Nevermore, like on cue, shot another salve of feathers at Hannah, narrowly missing her and showing itself once more. The newcomers pulled out their weapons.

The Grimm apparently realized the situation soon enough and didn't get any closer, but continued the barrage of ranged attacks, as the three defenders took cover behind a rock formation. "Heh, how nice of you to drop by", Vybe said, loading Dust ammunition into his gun. Hannah got a good look at Vybe's weapon. It looked like a very meticulously contructed Shotgun with speaker installed in the hilt and the barrel as well as multiple small regulators like you'd see in a sound studio.

"So what now?" "I got separated from my partner. He's probably on his way here right now and he's very powerful. Our best shot is to ground it and get into melee range."

"So, basically until we can find a way to clip its wings", Vybe finished loading his shotgun. "We distract it."

"I do not think that is a wise-" The girl in white began, but didn't get the chance to finish as Vybe activated his semblance, his hair turning bright red and playing something that could only be described as upbeat battle music that was completely inappropriate for the situation at hand and jumped out from behind cover, firing in the Nevermore's general direction multiple times and taking cover behind a tree nearby.

He would never admit it later, but Vybe hadn't exactly thought his idea through and as he isolated himself from the girls, the Nevermore immediately turned its attention to him firing another barrage of feathers at him and preparing for a dive attack.

 _That idiot!_ Hannah watched with horror as Vybe was now pinned behind a rather thin tree, his only backup being Herself and the other girl. She turned to look towards her new ally, but found her nowhere to be seen.

 _Damnit! Did she run? We can't beat this foe with only the two of us!_ _Think, Hannah think!_ Hannah was feverishly thinking of strategies where they could overwhelm their opponent with a surprise-attack, when she heard a loud, bestial, familiar and very welcome Roar.

She looked out behind her cover to see Aldric pouncing an incredible distance from under the canopy, aiming directly for the Nevermore's giant head, which turned to face him a bit too late, as with a deafening crack a large, scaled fist collided with this bird's enormous skull.

The Nevermore reeled back from the impact with a horrible screech and turned all its attention to the obviously dangerous newcomer, who roared at it challengingly.

 _This is our chance!_ "Vybe!" Hannah shouted. "We need to ground it! It's vulnerable and he can make short work of it if we get it to fall!" She pointed at Aldric. Vybe nodded to her, threw his Shotgun into the air, transforming it into the Hoverboard Hannah saw him ride on as his landing strategy. Hannah took flight once more and began harassing the Nevermore with long-range lightning from Shrike to keep it from gaining altitude.

As Vybe got dangerously close to the Nevermore he shouted: "Cover your ears!" The music stopped and his hair turned from bright red to deep black and a painful, high pitched whistling sound tortured Hannah's ears.

She noticed however that the now grounded Nevermore reeled in agony, trying to cover its head in the ground. Hannah flew at the Nevermore full speed, trying to get to it so she could cut into its wings. Her ears and head hurt, but defeating the nevermore took priority right now and she was just about to come into cutting distance, when she saw the woman in white seemingly appear from nowhere, making a few fast, precise cuts at the base of the Nevermore's wings with her katana.

The strain left on the Grimm by the stunning sound and the - for their speed - deep cuts from the woman in white had made it vulnerable.

This was their chance, and the black haired girl didn't hesitate as she was about to finish it all, aiming for the Nevermore's neck with her sword when she was tackled aside by Vybe just in time to evade the destructive inferno that Aldric just unleashed in the direction of the nevermore nearly hitting their new allies.

"Are you absolutely insane?!" Vybe shouted at Aldric furiously, who wasn't listening and leapt at the Nevermore, grabbing it around its neck with both arms and with a sickening _CRACK_ broke its neck, the last few breaths escaping its quivering body, before slowly starting to disintegrate.

The dust settled. Quiet filled the area. Hannah took a close look at Aldric. It seemed he hadn't quite lost himself yet. His horns barely sprouted from his forehead, but his Fangs and Scales were already very well visible. He was breathing heavily.

 _What a mess…_ Hannah thought as she landed and saw Aldric rushing over to her. "Alright?" He asked plainly. "Yes. Aldric, we really need to work on-"

 **"HEY!"** Hannah jumped as she heard the voice of Vybe magnified by his semblance shout over louder than he needed to to get their attention. He looked furious.

"What was that, man?! You could have seriously hurt her!" He pointed over to the woman in white, who didn't seem all too bothered herself.

"Honestly, what the fu-"

"Stop it! It's not his fault!" Hannah interjected before this situation got too out of hand. "It's his semblance. He's got... difficulty focusing at times."

"He's a liability, and he's dangerous, that's what he is!"

"You weren't exactly being careful either! Going out from behind cover like that without backup _or_ armor! That was reckless!"

"Yes it was. For myself! I didn't endanger someone else with my stupidity!"

"Look, we all made some mistakes in this fight. We should learn from them. We need to go inside", Hannah said and turned to Aldric, who was taking very long and deep breaths and slowly returning to normal, as steam rose from his body. "Let's go."

* * *

Inside they found a very simple, round room with two Computer-like terminals next to each other. They seemed to already be prepared as there was a keyboard each and the Screen displayed two text fields one titled _Name,_ one _Semblance_ _and a small square for their fingerprints._

Hannah quickly went to the right one, swiftly typing in _Aldric_ and _Awakening_ and pressing her thumb to the machine _._ "Ok, all done here. Are you ready to go?" She looked over to Aldric. He wasn't using the terminal. He was just staring at it.

"What's wrong?" Hannah asked. He quickly glanced over at her. "Uhm, well…" "It's not that hard, is it?" Hannah instructed, quickly typing in _Hannah_ and _Wings_ and hit Enter. Aldric glanced at the screen and swiftly pressed his thumb against it.

"There. All done. Come on, let's go. We should to get back to campus sometime tomorrow." Aldric shot one last glance back at the terminal before following Hannah out.

* * *

Professor Ozpin was sitting at his desk in his office, closely observing the 'fight' – if one could call it that – with the Giant Nevermore at the School Outpost, which had been recorded by the numerous cameras installed all around the Emerald Forest.

"So. Those two are the last to reach the Outpost. Hannah Himel and your newest… _Asset._ The one who calls himself 'Aldric'", Professor Goodwitch said already going through the first year student database on her scroll, which was recently updated by the input from the terminals and watching Professor Ozpin's nonexistent reaction.

"Shall I place those two pairs in different classes?" She asked. "No, I believe they can learn a lot from each other", Ozpin said taking a sip from his ever present coffee.

"You're not seriously thinking about making them a team, are you Professor? They already spell disaster and it hasn't even been one day!"

"Adaptability to a situation of crisis is a necessary part of a Huntsman's or Huntress's repertoire of skills", Ozpin explained, as he watched on his scroll as the silent images of the colorful youngster wearing the headphones and the girl with wings argued fiercely. He smiled and took another sip of coffee.

"Welcome to Beacon Academy, Team HAVC"


	5. Calm before the Storm

**Hey, faithful reader(s)! It's me! Your favourite unimaginative OC RWBY Fanfic Author (jk :D) And I bring another new chapter with me!**

 **Honestly, I'm not as proud of this chapter as I'd like to be/have been of other chapters (namely 2 and 3) so, if any** **inconsistencies** **show up, feel free to let me know! I don't exactly know why this is and I don't think it is because I decided to include some of the original Characters, such as Team RWBY and Team JNPR (oops, Spoilers), but to me, something just feels off about this chapter. Nonetheless I decided to post it as it is, just keep in mind that (more than previous chapters) I will probably continue to tinker with this chapter past its publication.**

 **tl;dr: -Not as happy with chapter as I'd like to be, still work in progress!**

 **Enjoy! ^-^**

* * *

"Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. From this day forward you will work together as Team JNPR (Juniper). Led by Jaune Arc! Congratulations", Professor Ozpin said to the four new students getting on stage.

Hannah was excited to find out who her team mates and team leader would be. She and Aldric had managed to return to the school at an acceptable pace with Aldric now actually paying attention to Hannah's directions.

Hannah was initially surprised by this change of priorities, but he probably just wanted to avoid another incident like the Nevermore.

Their post-initiation questioning went fairly quickly with Professor Goodwitch asking Hannah a few basic Questions of how strong on a scale of 1 to 100 she would assess her partner and how she would categorize his fighting style.

"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long. From this day forward you will work together as Team RWBY (Ruby). Led by Ruby Rose! Congratulations", Professor Ozpin continued as a very odd looking bunch of Students entered the stage.

Hannah thought the weirdest thing she'd seen was Vybe, but Team RWBY proved her wrong. A very colorful Team with each one of them respectively being dressed in what amounted to essentially all red, white, black and yellow.

The applause slowly died down and Professor Ozpin's voice pulled Hannah back into reality: "Hannah Himel", He began.

Hannah looked at Aldric and nodded to the Stage. "That's our cue" Ozpin continued without delay: "-Aldric" _I wonder who our teammates will be_ , Hannah thought, a bit worried, while she got on stage.

She didn't have to wait very long though: "Vybe Berg and Caroline Mearam" Hannah sighed, as she got in line with the others. _Why am I not surprised?_

"From this day forward you will work together as Team HAVC (havoc). Led by Hannah Himel. Congratulations!" Ozpin finished, smiling. A bit of chuckling went around the crowd. Not exactly a name that has an aura of good teamwork

* * *

Hannah didn't pay much attention to the rest of the ceremony. She was sitting in the back, lost in thought over how they could have killed that giant Nevermore quicker and less risky and absentmindedly fiddling with her scroll.

A rough hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality. "Hey Feather! I see you made it through initiation too!" Said the girl in yellow from Team RWBY. This was Yang Xiao Long, one of Hannah's former classmates from Signal.

"Oh, hi Yang. Yeah I made it, I guess; for better or for worse… And I see you succeeded as well. Did you run into any trouble along the way?"

Yang sat down next to Hannah. "Oh, you know. This and that. Couple of Beowolves, Ursai. Nothing me or my partner can't handle. What's with the long face? You should be happy! None of those stupid first graders making fun of you, a Team put together by our Headmaster himself. You're even Team Leader! That's an accomplishment in and of itself!"

Hannah looked away again and pondered what Yang was saying. She was right. Hannah was Team Leader. There wouldn't be another fiasco like in the forest. Now – with her new position of power – Aldric, Vybe and Caroline **had** to listen to her! Confidence! Authority! Control!

"Did you have a lot of trouble, Feather?" _'Feather'._ Not very imaginative as nicknames go. Yang started calling Hannah that back when they were both at Signal.

Hannah awakened her Semblance over the summer holidays two years ago, so her classmates were a bit surprised when summer ended.

"Well, to be honest, yes I did"

"How come?"

"Urgh, it was just chaos all over. I met my partner in the middle of a fight he'd picked with a whole pack of Beowolves **alone**. He was going absolutely berserk. Worse than you, actually"

"Pffft! Yeah right..."

"It's true! No regard for personal safety!"

"Haha, I like him already"

"Anyway, after he disposed of the grimm, we had to waste a lot of time waiting for him to recover and after **that** he apparently _still_ had the need to obliterate anything that crossed his path. Only after explaining twice how pressed for time we were, he finally agreed to be more careful..."

"Doesn't sound all that bad to me. My partner over there" Yang pointed at the woman in black with the bow on her head. "and I ran into more than one scuffle with grimm ourselves."

"Well, this is where the real trouble starts. Obviously, I'm flying above him, keeping him on track, when I'm attacked by a giant Nevermore"

"So? You're a flying ace. Just kill it"

"Wasn't that easy. That one was big and old and it knew its way around a dogfight. I couldn't really get it into my partner's range and Shrike wasn't having much effect, so I landed and it pursued me all the way to the outpost. There, I ran into the rest of what is now my team and after what can only be described as a tactical disaster of a fight, we finally somehow managed to kill it..."

"Wait, your team actually fought together in the forest? If you already had such apparent problems in that fight, why did Ozpin put you four on a Team?"

"I don't know, but he must have had some reason. Well, I'm gonna go find my team. Do you want to meet them?"

Hannah and Yang didn't have to search around the large assembly hall of Beacon tower for long, as Aldric was as always hard to miss. Yang had pretty much the exact same reaction to meeting him as Hannah did.

"Wow. You looked big on stage, but holy shit, you're **big**!"

"mhm", Aldric answered in his typical one or two syllable communication, glancing down on the much shorter Yang.

"Well, this is my partner, Aldric. These two here", Hannah motioned towards Vybe, who was not paying attention because he seemed busy talking with someone on his scroll and Caroline, who actually was listening. "are Vybe Berg and Caroline Mearam. Guys, this is Yang. She's a friend from Signal."

"Caroline Mearam. Nice to meet you", Caroline repeated unnecessarily.

Yang wasn't listening though, because she was still hung up on Aldric, who was still eyeing Yang. "Hey, hey! How strong are you?" she asked excitedly.

"Well, he broke the Nevermore's neck, so I suppos... pretty strong?" Hannah answered in his place.

"I want to spar with you sometime, big guy. Might be fun." Yang had a mischievous smile on her face and smashed her fists together challengingly.

Aldric quickly shot a glance at Hannah. She immediately knew what he was thinking and interjected: "NO! No, nonono, No! Not here, not now.

Shortly after all teams had been assigned they were now being directed to their dorms. Each dorm – as they were told - was equipped with a bathroom, two desks and a bed for each inhabitant and all their belongings were said to have already been delivered.

The gang quickly found their room. It was right next to Team JNPR and pretty close to Team RWBY.

As they entered, Hannah was surprised to find that beds had already been assigned, with their personal belongings already placed on them alongside a Beacon Academy uniform.

The only bed larger than anyone else's, which was obviously meant for Aldric, was topped only with a uniform and no suitcase. Hannah wondered about that. _Doesn't he have_ anything _he'd want to take with him here?_

"Well, make sure to live in quickly guys, Classes already start tomorrow", Hannah instructed.

"Yeah yeah, whatever" Vybe responded absentmindedly, already throwing about some of his belongings, namely his clothes as he dug through his suitcase.

Hannah saw Aldric looking confused and picking up his uniform shirt, which – spread out like that – looked more like a tapestry than an actual piece of clothing and eyed it suspiciously.

He held it in front of his still shirtless torso with the expression of a man who'd just been handed a dress that was three sizes too small. "They don't seriously expect me to wear this, do they?"

"Yes, they do", Vybe answered, quickly looking Aldric over. "And you should maybe make it a habit to wear a shirt **all the time**." Aldric sighed.

"Oh man… come on" Hannah lamented as she also inspected her uniform.

"I specifically asked them if I could have a uniform with holes in the back!" She said as she held up her obviously quite normal shirt.

Hannah thought it'd be a good Idea to work on team dynamic, but didn't get very far in her attempt at teambuilding. She made a quick list of her teammates' Names and Semblances on her scroll, but the two boys were apparently uninterested in any tactic-talk afterwards, as Vybe was setting up his mixboard on one of the desks he'd already claimed for himself without consulting anyone and Aldric was learning how to properly button his shirt.

In the end Hannah spent the rest of the afternoon tediously and carefully cutting holes into her uniform with a little help from Caroline's Katana.


	6. First Hurdles

**Here you go readers: Another chapter. I'm on a roll guys! This Chapter and the one following this one will be a bit shorter. I may end up scratching this and editing them together, but that's all plans for the future.**

* * *

Hannah always prided herself in being an attentive Student, but Professor Port's class was giving even her trouble.

"And so – without fear – I ran at the Alpha, knowing full well this could be my last-" She hadn't expected one of her her first ever lessons in Beacon to be such a test of mental stamina.

They were all in their second lesson of 'Anatomy of Grimm' on their second day of school and Professor Port just now in the middle of his second 'Veteran Story'.

Admittedly, when he actually got to the parts where he slew the Grimm he encountered, he did explain their strengths and weaknesses fairly well, it only took him about 20 minutes to get there.

Hannah looked around. She wasn't the only one having trouble listening. Ruby Rose was doodling in her notes, Nora Valkyrie was too busy fawning over her partner Lie Ren, and Jaune Arc and Yang were just plain asleep, while Vybe was not so subtly listening to music on his ever present Headphones.

What Hannah didn't expect though was Aldric's approach to this class. He was listening like this class' outcome would decide his fate and staring at the small labels on the sketch of an Alpha Beowolf on the blackboard intensely. He was also one of the few who didn't pull out their textbooks when asked, but he kept listening.

At the end of Class Hannah looked at his notepaper. It was blank save for the letters "Del-" in a very broken handwriting. She was surprised and slightly suspicious at this behavior.

He'd shown this the day before as well during other classes such as Weapon maintenance with Professor Ozpin and History with "Professor Dr. Bartholomew Oobleck, or just Dr. Oobleck to you". It wasn't bad that he was being diligent, but it certainly was unexpected.

* * *

After the lesson Hannah went to the Library to start working on the seven pages of text they were supposed to read until their next History class but even though she has the book in front of her, she didn't get much done.

Her mind kept wandering off to Aldric's strange behavior in class and so she decided to pack up for the day and head to dinner, when Aldric suddenly sat down in front of her.

"Aldric! I didn't see you there. Are you here for the assignment too?"

"Kind of", he answered cryptically.

"By the way, why was your only note after Professor Port's class 'Del'?" Aldric looked around nervously as if he were hiding from someone.

He then came close to her and whispered hastily: "Hannah, I need a favor." Hannah was confused and a bit skeptical.

"What kind of favor?"

"You mustn't tell anyone."

"Sure, as long as you don't need me to break any rules." Aldric sat up and looked around some more. Hannah was really confused. _What's up with him? We've barely started school and he's already acting opposite of what I'd expect after initiation._

He sighed, put his hands together in a begging fashion and asked Hannah: "Will you please teach me how to read and write?"

* * *

"WHAT?!" Hannah shouted making many of the library's occupants shush her and the librarian glare at her sharply. She quickly collected herself and whispered: "What do you mean?! You attend the most advanced combat school for Huntsmen and Huntresses in Vale, are actually accepted; but you can't read?"

"Yes"

"How the hell..."

"Ozpin. He invited me" Now Hannah was really confused. Why would Ozpin invite someone who couldn't read?

"Not supposed to talk about it" Hannah had a really hard time comprehending what she'd just heard. After a while, she forced herself back to focus.

 _I have to start being a Leader! And it all begins with building a healthy relationship with your team!_

"Well, can't write an essay for Prof- Dr. Oobleck without being able to write. So sure, I'll teach you. But as your team leader, I really need to hear more of this…" This was the first time she'd ever seen Aldric smile.

"Thank you. I will explain when we begin"


	7. Grudges and Teamwork

**Hey, faithful readers! I'm back! This chapter turned out much longer than I expected it to, I hope you have fun with it! IMO I think it turned out great, I'm really proud of this one, just keep in mind that this is – as always – a work in progress! :)**

* * *

 _Urgh… I guess it's back to work…_ The man in the elevator thought on his way up Beacon tower and to Professor Ozpins office.

He was a middle aged, good looking man with shoulder long, dirty blonde hair, hazel eyes, a cigarette wearing a brown duster coat and carrying a simple looking gun at his side.

He arrived at the office where Ozpin was already waiting. _And now of all times, just when I was on a roll_ _he makes an offer I can't refuse..._

Ozpin smiled casually and said: "Good morning Professor."

"Don't call me that, Ozpin"

"Ah yes, of course. You detest that title. Well, I assume you know the reason I called you back here?"

The man looked at his scroll which portrayed a beautiful young girl with his hair color smiling at the camera. After a short while he replied: "I know one of them… What else?"

"I need your help with my newest asset", Ozpin explained and turned his computer screen around, showing the portrait of a wide-jawed blonde young man with hair tied to a rope.

"His name is Aldric. He shows promise but he has no… specific _style_ of fighting, nor a weapon. During weapon maintenance he listened diligently, but didn't get a chance to participate. I'd like your input on what we might equip this young man with."

The man took a breath from his cigarette, grabbed the holopic from the screen and quickly swiped it onto his scroll taking a good look at the young man's face.

"I'll get back to you after class then", he said as he turned around and headed back for the elevator. He took another look at the portrait. _Aldric, huh? This'll be interesting._

* * *

"And so, when you put those letters – s and h – together they form a shushing sound. Therefore this is how you spell 'crash' for example", Hannah instructed Aldric.

They were currently in their – besides them – empty dorm. Hannah never knew where Vybe disappeared to, as much as she'd like to but Caroline said she was going for lunch during their afternoon break, so Hannah and Aldric used their uninterrupted free time to begin their reading lesson.

They had barely started at all and were only about 25 minutes into their first session, but Aldric was trying very hard to learn with determination and focus like Hannah hadn't seen, not even during normal lessons.

They'd started simple: Spelling his and Hannahs names, though it proved more difficult than expected. Yet, Aldric wouldn't give up and was quickly able to write full words already. Hannah was amazed at his progression speed

 _This is incredible. He's really intelligent, such a shame he didn't grow up with proper education._

Aldric had told Hannah. He was orphaned when he was very little in the wastelands of Mistral. For a long time he fought to survive in the wilderness, discovering his Semblance early in life, but only recently re-entered society.

"I am very sorry", he'd said, even bowing apologetically. "But I simply cannot tell you why Ozpin took me in!" So Hannah settled for the Orphan story. For now.

They were just about to start a new page of Hannah's textbook, when suddenly the door to their dorm flew open as if an explosion had caused this, with Vybe standing there, his semblance in full color and playing obnoxiously loud electric guitar, and him shouting: "I'm back, People! Come on! It's almost time for Combat Training!" He exclaimed excitedly as Hannah scrambled her and Aldric's notes under her bed.

"What is wrong with you?! Can't you use your indoor voice?!" Hannah shouted.

He just grinned at her. Behind him, she saw Caroline appear and team JNPR walk past, all suited up for training.

They wasted no time to get changed, or in Aldric's case, just get rid of his uniform jacket and shirt, and quickly went to follow the other teams to the training arena.

* * *

They arrived fairly early. It was still about ten minutes until class started, but everyone was already there, eager to get started.

Their group consisted of the teams HAVC, RWBY, JNPR and some guys Hannah hadn't really talked with from team CRDL. Hannah shot a few looks around. Obviously, Team HAVC was drawing quite the attention.

Yang was already getting pumped up. "I hope I get to fight the big guy!" She said, throwing a few punches in the air and making Ruby Rose laugh nervously.

Jaune arc was staring at Aldric and quivering all over. He didn't seem the fighting type, but Hannah had already learned not to judge a book by its cover.

"Hey come to think of it", Vybe broke their anticipating silence. "We don't know our Combat Training instructor yet, do we?"

Hannah thought for a moment. "I'd think that it'd be professor Port, but he does Anatomy of Grimm. Maybe the Headmaster's Assistant, Professor Goodwitch?"

"You think? I heard she's super strong!" Vybe said excitedly. "Though granted, we haven't met all the staff yet-" The door to the other side of the room flew open.

Out came a middle aged, good looking man with shoulder long, dirty blonde hair, hazel eyes, a cigarette and wearing a brown duster coat and carrying a simple looking gun at his side.

Hannah's eyes went wide. "YOU..." She said angrily between gritted teeth, but was cut off by the Teacher starting to talk.

"Alright, alright. Settle down kids" The man instructed lazily, as he started walking over to the desk set up for teacher's notes.

Vybe noticed Hannah fuming with rage, something he hadn't seen before, not even when she shouted at him for disturbing the peace around the dorms. "Hannah? What's wrong?" Vybe whispered.

"Him!" She said, staring at him with nothing but hatred in her eyes, her wings trembling.

"Do you two have common history?" Caroline asked, seeming mildly interested in this turn of events.

"Alright, introductions", the man continued. "My name is Professor John Himel"

Vybe's eyes went wide. He looked to Hannah. "Wait, 'Himel'? Does that mean-"

"And before you ask" Professor Himel continued, turning his gaze towards Team HAVC and getting everyone's attention again. He took a deep inhale from his cigarette. "Yes, we are related." He gestured at Hannah with an open hand and a smile. "Hannah here is my Daughter."

* * *

"WHAT?!" Vybe exclaimed surprised. All eyes immediately locked onto Hannah, who was barely more than a pile of hot, fiery anger. "Wait you two are-?"

"That's right. Hey there, my little angel" Professor Himel said and smiled warmly at Hannah, which was apparently the tip on the scale, because Vybe was surprised when he heard her rather blunt, very loud response: "F*CK YOU, **'DAD'**! _"_ , practically spitting out the last word in disgust as if it were a mortal curse and seeming very close to just launching herself at him in a rage.

He'd never seen Hannah this angry before or hear her curse so horribly. She was always so calm and collected. Even the other teams were dead silent right now, witnessing this spectacle.

Yang was just looking back and forth in between Hannah and their teacher and Pyrrha Nikos clutched her hands in front of her mouth in a gasp and most of the others – like Vybe – were just watching silently, not sure what to do.

"Now now. While at school you will address me as 'Professor Himel' please. Now then. From this day forward for the next four years, I will be your Combat Instructor."

Hannah looked down. _Why?! Why HIM?!_ She felt a large, heavy hand on her shoulder.

"Hannah, you need to be calm. We cannot fight like this", Aldric said. Gritting her teeth, Hannah quickly wiped her tears of rage from her eyes, took a deep breath and said: "You're right"

Professor Himel continued to instruct class: "So. I've read all of your briefs, but I'd like to get a feel for your team-based combat. So, this lesson I would like you all to form a line, so I can quickly shake all of your hands, after which we will have team, let's say… JNPR take on CRDL and RWBY spar with HAVC. I will closely observe your fights and gauge your abilities. Now then. Form a line!"

"Wohoo!" Yang exclaimed. She pointed at Aldric. "No pulling punches, alright?"

"uhm… Excuse me sir?" Jaune arc asked. He didn't seem all to scared, but rather confused. "Why do you need to shake our hands?"

"Ah, a good question, son! Hannah dear, would you care to explain?" Jaune looked over to Hannah, but she wasn't gonna let the old man have this satisfaction. She turned her head away and didn't answer.

Professor Himel sighed. "Alright then. Mister…?"

"Arc, sir. Jaune Arc"

"Mister Arc. Did you know, that all semblances have an innate name?"

"erm… no, but why-"

"My Semblance is called Scan. By touching someone, I can accurately find out what their semblance is called and what it can do. Now. FORM. A. LINE!"

The class quickly formed a line and Professor Himel went through, shaking all their hands once and with his eyes flashing blue quickly, he nodded, sometimes added a quick comment and moved on.

Some of these comments included "Ah, a schnee! I don't need to take your hand then!" for Weiss Schnee, the girl in white from team RWBY, a quick "Oh wow..." for Aldric and "Fascinating..." for Caroline.

He arrived in front of Hannah, who was standing still, arms crossed.

"Your hand, honey."

"Don't. Call. Me. That! Besides you should know my Semblance fairly well by now, right?" She asked challengingly and snipped the cigarette from his mouth with her wing.

"Miss Himel. Your. Hand", he said demandingly, staring into her eyes. Reluctantly, and with a loud groan, she gave him her hand. His eyes flared up quickly and he nodded. "Now then. First off: Teams JNPR vs CRDL!"

* * *

The fight between CRDL and JNPR was fascinating to watch. Hannah hadn't got a chance to gauge team JNPRs combat power until now even though they were practically neighbors. She didn't do much spectating now either though, because she caught herself again and again sending hateful glances at her father.

Still, what little she did see of the fight was interesting. Team CRDL didn't seem all that powerful individually except for their leader, the tall boy with the mace whose name Hannah had forgotten, but they were fairly adept at ganging up on people.

Team JNPR on the other hand was the other way around. Though they varied in fighting style, all but JNPRs leader seemed to be very strong individually, with Jaune Arc lagging a bit behind.

In the end, the Fight was quickly decided with Pyrrha Nikos keeping all four members of CRDL busy at the same time, while Nora Valkyrie cleaned them up with her – for her size – ridiculously large hammer, with Jaune Arc yelling strategic ideas from the sidelines and Lie Ren waiting for his missed opportunity.

"Hannah? Hey, you there?" Vybe brought Hannah back into the present, as she was still fuming with anger.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine"

"Look, I don't know your story", Vybe said, looking at Hannah's Father, who was now waiting for them to enter the ring. "But you need to focus. Remember", he continued and replicated Hannah's voice with his semblance: "We're in class you know!"

Team HAVC entered the Arena. In front of them, lined up: Team RWBY. Hannah was just going over everything she knew about team RWBY, when she heard her father's voice say: "BEGIN!" Immediately followed by what sounded like a huge explosion directly next to her.

Yang had launched herself at Aldric at full speed and immediately threw a punch at him, which he stopped with his own fist. They were lost in their own world, locked in high speed one on one fist fighting, when Hannah saw Caroline step forward, slowly drawing her Katana. She pointed at Blake Belladonna.

"I can take care of her", she said, as they both disappeared in their own ways.

"No wait! We should work together! Aldric, you-" as she was interrupted by another loud explosion.

Ruby Rose pulled out her weapon, which Hannah saw just now was a large, mechanical Scythe and she and Weiss Schnee quickly looked at each other, nodded and looked to Hannah. She noticed that Ruby Rose didn't even try to stop her teammates from splitting up. _Is she mocking us? Does she think she doesn't need coordination?_

Vybe configured his Shotgun and looked to Hannah. "Two on two, huh?" He said. "Interesting..."

* * *

The fight was an absolute disaster. Caroline and Blake were barely ever visible, lost in their own world. Multiple, loud explosions could be heard from the fistfight corner in which Yang and Aldric were going at it. That fight was actually interesting.

Yang was much faster than Aldric, but he was stronger. Much stronger. Especially after she got in a few hits and made him angry and after he started breathing fire. "Whoa! Hot, hot hot!" Yang shouted as Steeel singed her with his first large torrent of flame in this battle.

Hannah immediately took off as she and Vybe faced off with Ruby and Weiss, but found herself under heavy fire from the Schnee girl's glyphs that appeared all around her and started barraging her with icicles, while Vybe tried to get close to Weiss while at the same time keeping his distance from Ruby and continuously missing with his Shotgun.

Hannah noticed, that Team RWBY also didn't have the best teamwork. Ruby got in the way of Weiss' attacks multiple times and Weiss ignored about three commands from her leader without comment or regard.

This went on for a while, Hannah lying unusually fast and taking some risky turns mid air to try and catch their enemies off guard until Vybe grabbed Ruby's arm and activated his semblance, stunning all three girls and all spectators with terrible screeching noises.

He got in one good shot against Ruby, which was louder than his semblance though and therefore gave team RWBY enough time to quickly recover and he found himself trapped in a large chunk of Ice.

Hannah was about to circle around again and continue shooting them from above with Shrike, maybe free Vybe when she was distracted by two loud beeping sounds.

"Vybe Berg no longer participating due to restrainment, Caroline Mearam no longer participating due to Aura Depletion!" She heard her Father call out. Hannah instinctively looked for Caroline, who was down on one knee, her Katana five meters away and Blake sheathing her weapon.

Hannah cursed at herself and quickly regained focus, but a little late, as to her surprise a flying Aldric crashed into her, tossed by Yang, who'd managed to grab his arm. They both fell to the ground and Hannah, who was underneath Aldric heard a _CRACK_ and felt a sudden pain in her left wing.

She heard another loud beep. "Hannah Himel no longer participating, due to Aura Depletion..." Aldric, who was already partly transformed, got up with a mighty roar and charged back at Yang. She was breathing heavily. Not many could hold their own in a close range melee brawl with her, and she was excited that she found someone who could.

But Hannah didn't have to wait long, because soon after, _BEEP_ "Aldric, no longer participating due to Aura Depletion."

Hannah looked over. Just as she'd thought, team RWBY had successfully ganged up on him after they disposed off the rest of them and Aldric was currently all scaled up, horns out and fangs bared. Hannah lay there on her back and covered her eyes in her arm.

 _What are we gonna do? We absolutely blew this. I don't understand how I'm supposed to lead this team... We're gonna be the school's laughing stock now_

"Hey, Hannah" She looked up to see Vybe offering a hand. "Come on, get up" he said in a sad tone. He sounded devastated. Hannah hadn't seen this side of him before.

The students lined up again. Pyrrha Nikos of team JNPR had a look of pity in her eyes as she looked over the beaten team HAVC and CRDL were just laughing loudly at them.

"Well, the footage from today will be available to you in the library tomorrow" Professor Himel said, trying to stay professional and giving Hannah a sad look. He didn't try to hide the fact that he rooted for his daughter during the fight.

"I suggest you all take a good look at your recordings and learn from your experience. Class dismissed"

* * *

Hannah exited the training area with her shoulders slumped and her wings dragging behind her. She felt a rough hand on her shoulder.

Yang was standing there, giving her a sad smile. Hannah knew Yang wanted to say something, but didn't know what. She settled for "Well… better luck next time!" and walked off for dinner.

Hannah didn't go to eat dinner. Her appetite was gone. _This is the worst day ever_. She decided to head back to her Dorm. _My wing still hurts… I need to have a look at that._ She was just about to turn around the corner to their dorms, when in a sudden, red flash _CRASH_ someone ran into her.

"Hey, watch-" Hannah stopped. She'd run into Ruby, who was sitting in front of her, tears streaming down the girl's face.

"Oh, I-I'm _sniff_ I'm sorry...", Ruby said wiping the tears off her face. _She just won the very first round of Combat Training, but she's crying?_ Hannah decided to poke her nose where it didn't belong. "Shouldn't you be celebrating? You won. Pretty one sided, even", Hannah said as she helped Ruby up.

"I guess I should..." Ruby said in a forced smile.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing…" Ruby looked around the hallway. "It's my partner, Weiss. After I said we did pretty well, she started yelling at me, saying I made the wrong decision at least five times, nearly cost her her pride and that I'm a failure as a Leader and a Huntress..."

Ruby continued to sob as she sat down, back against the wall and head between her knees. Hannah decided to join her.

"Well, I think you outmaneuvered us fairly well. Wouldn't have won otherwise… to be fair that dive was pretty reckless, but it worked out, so I don't see the issue", Hannah tried cheering up Ruby. _Seems I'm not the only miserable one around…_

"You know. I've been thinking the entire way back what a failure I am and how I could have controlled this battle better. I tried my best, but it wasn't enough. Do you have any thoughts?"

"You want to know what I think?"

Hannah forced another smile. "If you're offering"

"Well, I- I noticed you got distracted by the siren and things that happened outside your own influence a lot. You couldn't and shouldn't interfere with Yang and that huge guy's battle. That wouldn't have ended well and you weren't concentrating, because you were thinking about how to control the situation. I think you need to adapt a bit. But that's only my opinion..."

Hannah pondered what Ruby was saying. Maybe she was right. Maybe Hannah _did_ have to pay more attention to what's right in front of her.

"You know… thanks. I will think about it" Hannah was about to pat Ruby on the shoulder, but accidentally hit her still wounded Wing and winced. "Are you ok?" Ruby asked

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to have a look at this… See you around"

* * *

Hannah was sitting in the dark room of their dorm alone, trying to get ahold of the section of her wing that had been wounded by Aldric, but it was fairly close to the base of her wings and she couldn't reach very well, even with her mirror. She decided to try and get rid of her uniform first.

She was just about to try again, when she heard the door open behind her and heavy footfalls enter.

"Aldric!" Hannah exclaimed and blushed as she realized her current situation of garb.

"Hannah? Vybe was looking for you, he's worr-"

"Look away!" She interrupted him and tried to cover herself with her sheets. She saw Aldric turn around silently. _Wait… It's dark. And he can reach... I can't believe I'm doing this..._

Hannah became ever redder in her face as she said: "Aldric, I... I need... your help. I can't reach the spot where I'm injured," He slowly turned around and she clutched her sheets to her chest with on hand and held out a salve and some bandages with the other. "Could you please... put these... on for me?"

Hannah was sitting still, her heart racing, her wings spread out wide while Aldric's surprisingly gentle hands were applying the salve she gave him. _Unbelievable!_ _I'm half naked and alone with a huge man in a dark room!_ Her embarrassing thoughts and racing heart were interrupted by Aldric's low, strong voice: "I'm sorry..."

"What?"

"I'm sorry. For hurting you. Didn't mean to"

Hannah smiled into her blanket. "I know. Yang tossed you, you couldn't do anything..."

They continued sitting in silence for a while, Hannah letting Aldric work, who was currently feeling her wing for the dislocated section until he broke the silence again: "So what is your history with your father?"

"He's not my father", Hannah said angrily and full of spite.

"He's not?"

"I don't consider him family."

Hannah sighed as she took her long hair out of the way of his hands. She knew this was going to come up. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I've not seen you so angry before. You always seemed so… peaceful."

"Well...", Hannah began, thinking back to all her good and that one not so good memory.

"We were a happy family once. Father, mother, daughter. My Father is a huntsman, my mother worked some odd jobs here and there. All was well until summer two years ago. I sprouted my wings", Hannah explained and shifted her uninjured limb.

"My father got very angry one drunk night and accused my mother of having had an affair with a Faunus. He's not all too fond of them and obviously he didn't know what he was saying. Then he said he was leaving us. He'd found someone new as well, he said. And if he'd known sooner he would've left sooner as well."

"He left your mother for another woman?" Aldric asked as he gave her wing a violent _thrust_ and Hannah felt her joint moving back to where it should be.

"Yes. My mother tried to comfort me, but I heard her cry herself to sleep that night… He knows he's wrong… yet he wouldn't come back. I will never forgive him..."

"I see", Aldric said as he finished up bandaging her wing. "Yet if he is your father, but not your family; what is family?"

Hannah turned to look at Aldric. That was a really deep, good question. "Well... Family is...

* * *

John made his way up beacon tower again. This was a great day. He finally meets his daughter again, but she loses… Ozpin was sitting at his desk, observing today's battle.

"So. You read their semblances. How many of them haven't told us the entire story yet?" Ozpin asked and paused the video on a closeup of Aldric and Yang.

"Including Jaune Arc? Four. I don't know whether they won't tell us or don't know themselves, but this is very unusual. Well, to be fair, I didn't tell them everything about my own semblance either."

"As well you shouldn't. You know that we need to keep that quiet. Four of them is very interesting though… Which ones?"

John walked over to Ozpin's side of the desk, where the screen displayed the portraits of all the participants.

"Him, him, her and her", He said pointing at the respective faces. Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

"Fascinating indeed... On another note, did you come up with any ideas for our newest asset?"

"Actually", John began and pointed at Yang.

"She gave me a neat little Idea..." He grinned at Ozpin, who took another sip from his coffee.


	8. Syrup is thicker than Blood

**Hellooooooo, faithful readers! It is me again! I know I've been posting a lot recently, but I've finally arrived where I wanted to with my story and it is here, in this chapter, where I am obligated to remind you to have a quick look at the genres I used to label this story, because the turn of events may surprise some of you. With that in mind, if you're still interested, please enjoy and I will see you next chapter!  
EDIT: AS ALWAYS: work in progress ;)**

* * *

Aldric raised an eyebrow as he shifted in his heavy chains. "Come to your School? What could you possibly offer me?"

Ozpin chuckled, took a sip from his coffee and said: "A stable lifestyle, a roof over your head, food, training" He pointed at Aldric's bound arms. "and a partnership that doesn't involve manacles, first and foremost. I know you. I've read everything there is to know about you. You're a fighter. You're so powerful. Why not put that power to good use?"

Aldric looked down and thought. His offer was tempting. Very tempting. "What would you want in return?"

"Your loyalty and your fighting skills put towards-" Ozpin was cut off by the Vale police officer knocking on the door frame and calling: "Professor? Are you alright in there?"

"No need to worry, everything's fine. Like I said, I'd like you to work for me, essentially. Tell me, what do you know about the White Fang?"

Aldric looked up. "Formerly Faunus Rights movement, now resembles more of a violent supremacy movement, than anything else. Why?"

"They've been fairly inactive recently, which makes me believe they're plotting something. Soemthing big. Here in Vale. I need capable allies in this."

Aldric thought long and hard about this proposition. Ozpin didn't move an inch and waited long and patiently. Finally Aldric came to a conclusion: "Alright, I'm in."

"You are? I expected this to be more difficult."

"I never wanted to hurt people, but that's what I've been doing my whole life. It's time to change that. I don't want to hurt people anymore. I want to prove that I can protect them too!"

Ozpin smiled. "Well put, son. Officer", Ozpin said as he turned back towards the door. "release this man into my custody. I will cover for all the damage he has inflicted and take full responsibility for any future damage or issues that may come up. Welcome to Beacon Academy, Aldric!"

* * *

Many ' _normal_ _people_ ' frequently take morning jogs. Hannah took morning flights. Usually, at least. Her wings may be her Semblance but they are as much a part of her body as her arms or legs so whether she liked it or not, they need exercise to stay in shape.

At the moment though she was alternating between flying and jogging, since her Wing was healing up nicely, but still a bit sore, so she decided to take it a bit easier on her morning exercise.

Besides, Hannah was having trouble concentrating on her morning routine anyways because she was lost in thought about how she could make her team listen to her, which was still a challenge, what strategies they could theoretically have applied to their fight with team RWBY and about Ruby's advice of not thinking too much and making decisions on the fly.

It was just about 6 am when Hannah decided to head back to her dorm, since now one or two of her teammates may start waking up. She landed in front of the large building, but found the doorway blocked by Cardin Winchester of team CRDL, smoking a cigarette and looking at her with a menacing smile.

 _Oh boy, what's gonna happen now…_

Hannah walked up to him. She thought about flying into her team's room through the window, but it could only be opened from the inside, so she had to take the door…

"Could you please let me through?" She asked. She didn't expect this to work, but trying the nice way never hurt.

"Oh hey, I didn't see you there" _Yeah, right…_ "Wait, you're Hannah, leader of Team HAVC, right?"

"Yes… so?"

"The sad bunch of misfits who lost against team RWBY, a team of only girls, led by a fifteen year old. How sad..."

Hannah groaned and rolled her eyes. _I did not know Ruby was only 15… who makes it into Beacon with 15?_ She tried to hide her surprise by saying: "Ok look, if you don't have business with me just leave me alone and let me through, because I really don't have time for this... Cardin? Cardin, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. And actually", he began as he started walking towards Hannah. She carefully took a step back, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. Behind her were two more members of team CRDL. "we _do_ have business with you." He cracked his knuckled as he loomed over Hannah. "Faunus bitch!" he said as he reached out and roughly grabbed her by the feathers of her wing.

* * *

Hannah was trying to cover her head while team CRDL pushed her around and occasionally hit her. "Ow! Stop it! I told you, I'm not a Faunus, this is my Semblance!" She really didn't want to use this excuse, but she didn't really have any other choice but they weren't even listening. They'd found a new plaything to torment and technicalities didn't bother them, apparently.

"Filth! You don't belong here! Back into the mines with you! You're giving normal people at Beacon a bad reputation! Besides, you only got in because you're one of the teachers' daughter anyway!"

"Says the one who needs three other guys to gang up on one girl!" Hannah retorted, which earned her a heavy haymaker punch to the face. _These people disgust me…_ Hannah spat her blood in his face. He wiped it off.

"Oho, so the filthy animal has some fight left in her...", Cardin said as he grabbed Hannah by her hair. "Let's see how long-" Hannah didn't hear the rest of this because with a loud crashing sound, something large and heavy impacted into the concrete next to them. As the dust settled, she saw what it was: It was Aldric, who'd apparently jumped from their dorm room's window straight down and he was **very** angry. His scales were very visible and his teeth had already turned into fangs, but no Horns yet and Hannah noticed that he was concentrating very hard to control himself, as he slowly started walking towards team CRDL.

Two of the boys stepped between him and Cardin, who was still holding onto Hannah. Aldric just reached back to throw a punch, but Hannah called: "Aldric, no!" and he stopped mid swing. Hannah could have sworn she saw his claws become shorter. He put down his hand and let out a deep, bestial growl that would put any Beowolf to shame.

"Let. Go. _Now._ ", he said slowly. It was worded fairly civilly, but everyone present knew from his tone that this was essentially a death threat. He growled once more, this time making plumes of smoke rise from his breath.

"Tsk… Here, take it", Cardin said as he pushed Hannah towards Aldric. "I need to wash my hands now. Freaks. Don't you get it? No one cares about you. No one wants you here. You're just oddities and misfits who were let in because Ozpin felt pity for you. Your guardian won't always be there to protect you, loser." Cardin concluded, as he pointed at Hannah.

Steam was rising up from Aldric's body as Hannah had seen before, which indicated that his semblance was turning off and he was slowly transforming back. "That's where you're wrong", he said. "I _will_ always be there. Count on it."

Team CRDL slowly walked off in the general direction of the mess hall.

"Are you badly hurt?" Aldric asked, but was met with a slap against his chest because Hannah couldn't really reach his face well.

"What were you thinking?" she asked angrily. "We live on the third floor and you thought it was a good idea to jump out the window?! That's dangerous!"

This was the second time Hannah saw Aldric smile. "Yeah, I guess so, but taking the stairs would've taken too long."

Hannah face palmed and smiled at him. "What am I going to do with you?"

* * *

The two of them made their way back up to their dorm room quietly, trying not to wake up other inhabitants of the building. Hannah smelled something sweet coming from the communal kitchen. She wondered about that, but they sneaked back into their dark dorm room. Normally, people would already be awake around this time, but today happened to be a holiday so many slept in.

As soon as they entered, the lights flicked on and sitting in the chair of his desk, awake was Vybe looking at them both with a knowing smile. "So. I see you two coming back up here at about", he checked his watch "quarter to seven in the morning, sneaking about. Did you two do anything… _immoral_ while you were away that I should know about?"

Hannah went beet red as she realized what he was insinuating. Flustered, she shouted: "WHAT?! NO!", unable to control the volume of her voice in this situation. Aldric was just looking confused, and asked Hannah: "Didn't you just tell me to keep my voice down to not wake up others?"

"What? I mean... Sure, I did but… I..." Hannah looked over to Vybe who was grinning and spinning in his chair, thoroughly enjoying the scene he'd set up. With a frustrated "Urgh!" Hannah walked over to her bed, still in workout gear and just fell on it face down and said into her pillow: "I just can't deal with this right now..."

At that moment they all noticed a commotion out in the hallway. "Nora, no! I told you not to do it!" a man's voice who Hannah hadn't heard before said. "It'll be fine, trust me!" She heard Team JNPR's Nora's memorable, cheerful voice, followed by Pyrrha saying: "Are you certain this will help?" and Jaune agreeing: "I'm not sure this is a good idea!"

Hannah noticed, that the voices were becoming louder and louder as this discussion came closer and closer to their dorm room. "Don't worry! Like I said, it'll be", Nora continued, as suddenly, with a loud **BANG** and Nora concluding: " **FINE!** " the door of team HAVC's room flew out of its hinges at high speed and was caught by a very surprised Aldric.

In the door there stood Nora Valkyrie of Team JNPR with one plate stacked with syrupy pancakes in each hand and one balancing on the top of her head, with a stretched leg, she just used to kick down their door. All the other members of team JNPR were behind her, Pyrrha and Jaune watching in horror and Ren face palming.

" **SURPRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISE!** " Nora shouted triumphantly, as she stepped into team HAVC's room. "Hello, team HAVC! We all saw how down in the dumps you all were yesterday after Combat Training so we made you some feel-better pancakes for breakfast! And by 'we' I mean Ren here." Nora explained as she set down the plates on the free desk.

Team HAVC all exchanged very confused looks and Aldric gingerly put down the now slightly bent door. Finally Hannah said: "Uhm… thank you? I think?"

"You're most welcome!"

"For the record", Ren said. It was his voice Hannah hadn't heard before. "this was all Nora's Idea. She said she wanted some pancakes, but didn't tell me what for, so I assumed it was for herself like usually..."

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha called out from the back.

"Well...", Hannah began, overwhelmed by the situation. "Why don't you all come in, I guess?"

"What the hell is going on here?" Hannah heard Yang, as she rushed over in her Pajamas and weapons. "Are we under attack or something?" with the rest of team RWBY following closely behind.

Hannah sat in silence wondering how Nora managed to turn team HAVC's dorm room into the dining room for RWBY, JNPR and HAVC for today's breakfast, which consisted of pancakes, syrup and… yeah no, that's it. The first few minutes were a bit awkward but conversations started up fairly soon and the socializing begun. Hannah was spectating a bit when Ruby sat down next to her on her bed. "Feeling better?" She asked cheerfully.

"Yeah. I'd forgotten how nice it can be to make new friends. I see you're holding up as well."

"Yes, Weiss realized she was a bit too harsh yesterday and apologized", Ruby said and took another bite of her pancakes, when she looked at Hannah's wings. Hannah followed her gaze. "They're pretty, right?" Ruby just nodded and continued admiring them while eating.

"Do feathers keep you warm?"

"Yeah, they're super fluffy and warm. Sometimes during winter I wrap them around my shoulders like this", Hannah said and put her wings around herself like a cape. "and it makes me feel soo nice and toasty... Do you want to touch them?"

"Wow, so soft!" Hannah heard Ruby call out behind her as she felt the girl's gentle hands stroke her wings. "So are both of your parents Faunus or just your mom?"

"Neither, actually", Hannah said, as she looked over her shoulder at Ruby.

"Wait does that mean-?" Jaune asked, who'd come over and joined their conversation.

"Yeah, I'm human. Don't worry, most people assume that I'm a Faunus. These are just my Semblance."

"Wait, really?" Hannah heard Vybe ask. She turned to find him looking at her curiously. "To be honest I assumed you were a Faunus too."

"Well, now you know", Hannah said and smiled.

"So, Ruby", Hannah started up another topic. "I heard you're only 15. How did you make it into Beacon?"

"What gave it away?" Ruby asked nervously.

"One of those idiots from CRDL told me..."

"Well… I stopped some bad guys who were robbing a local dust store and Professor Ozpin thought I had potential", Ruby explained while blushing. It was obvious this made her feel a little special.

Hannah felt a certain sense of determination. She wasn't gonna lose to Team RWBY _or_ Team JNPR!

Eventually, Vybe put on some music and the three teams spent multiple hours just talking about this and that. Ruby, Hannah and Jaune ended up talking tactics, Caroline and Blake just sat on Caroline's bed in silence while Caroline just ate her pancakes and Blake read a book while eating, until Yang decided to make her socialize. Aldric, Nora and Yang - withWeiss listening in mildly interested - were discussing their Yang's and Aldric's fistfight from the day before.

Hannah found out some interesting things along the way, like that Weiss semblance is hereditary and that Yang ad Ruby are sisters. Something she did not expect honestly. Also, after a while she tried again to talk to Aldric about tactics and fighting style, and to her surprise, he was actually listening. She was delighted to finally get a chance to coordinate with him a little, even if they flew off topic a couple of times talking about Aldric's studies.

* * *

Some of the other teams' people had already left, but Team HAVC's room was still quite the social gathering when Professor Goodwitch showed up later that day.

"Good day, Team HAVC, I'm- WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?!" She interrupted herself furiously as she saw the obliterated door of the dorm room. Hannah grinned nervously and no one answered, except for Ren who silently pointed at Nora.

Professor Goodwitch sighed, said "Move" and pulled out her riding crop, quickly fixing the door. Hannah was amazed that she could repair it so effortlessly. _Is that her semblance?_

"Now, as I was saying. I'm sorry to bother you on your day off, but something urgent has come up and Professor Ozpin needs to see you, Aldric."

Aldric looked over at Hannah and got up to leave. Hannah followed suit to which Professor Goodwitch protested: "I'm sorry, this is a private matter, and even if you are his leader I don't think-"

"It's fine", Aldric interrupted her and smiled at Hannah. "I trust her." And so, all three of them found themselves in the elevator up beacon tower. _I wonder what's up. I haven't heard anything about Aldric's personal life. From what he's told me, he doesn't even really have one, so what kind of 'private matter' could he be involved in?_

They arrived in Professor Ozpin's office and Hannah immediately regretted her choice to join Aldric because one of the people in attendance was her father. As before, she groaned, rolled her eyes and avoided eye contact as she followed Aldric up to Professor Ozpin's desk.

"Ah there you are, Aldric" Professor Ozpin said, leaned to the side and smiled at Hannah. "And I see you've brought your team leader as well. Good day, Miss Himel."

"Hello, Professor."

"Now. I've called you here for multiple reasons. First of all. We're expecting a visitor."

Aldric raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "A visitor?"

"Yes, a visitor. Someone who's come a long way to see you, Aldric. A White Fang representative from Mistral."

 _Did he just say White Fang? From Mistral? Aldric said he was from Mistral, but what connection would he have to the white fang?_

"What do they want with me?" Aldric asked.

"That's the issue" Professor Ozpin continued. They heard the elevator move into place and with a gentle bell noise lock into place. The door opened and revealed a beautiful, rather short, middle aged woman in a white dress. She had platinum blonde hair, slitted blue eyes and a long, scaled tail.

"because this woman" Professor Ozpin continued. "claims to be your mother, Aldric." Hannah's eyes went wide. _His Mother? And she's with the White Fang?_

She smiled gently and walked up to Aldric, who looked almost twice her size and said: "How much you've grown. I've come to take you home, my son. Home to your people."

* * *

"You're my mother?" Aldric asked in utter disbelief. "I must admit, this is a lot to take in all at once.

"I would believe so", the lady said. "but let me assure you, we're family and we've finally been reunited." She smiled at him again. She seemed like a nice persona and Hannah was unsure how Aldric would react, but didn't expect what she saw.

His skin was turning into scales faster than she'd ever seen before, his horns grew out of his head and through gritted fangs he hissed at her: "Why?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why did you leave me? Why was I always alone?" Aldric was angry. Very angry.

The woman's face changed. She looked sad and a bit remorseful. "I had no choice. After we discovered your semblance, we couldn't control you. You were unpredictable and dangerous. We had to let you go."

"So you just threw me away like garbage, just because I was atoo much work for you?! How could you do that?"

Hannah noticed her father walking up to her and typing in a few things in his scroll. Hannah was about to give him the cold shoulder again, but he didn't say anthing and just gave her his scroll, which was showing a newspaper article from about 14 years ago.

Hannah started reading. Te headline already explained a lot. _Faunus noble family's caravan attacked in grimm massacre. Only three survivors. Among the dead: thirteen grimm and eight guards. The Noble family's child was lost in the confusion. Presumed dead._

Hannah looked at her father questioningly. He started explaining in a whisper: "That family was Aldric's. They were attacked by grimm and he awakened his semblance, killed all of the monsters. One of their guards got scared though and attacked him as well, inadvertently making this young child of seven kill all the remaining guards in a blood frenzy. His parents ran in fear." He took back his Scroll.

"How do you know so much about this?"

"Because I've been investigating high ranking White Fang members for years now and this is one of the first mysteries I ever solved. For a long time, there were rumors in mistral about some non-grimm monster living in the woods near this quaint little town."

Aldric had collected himself and calmed down a bit. "So what do you want with me now?"

"Like I said, I want to bring you back to your people. Look at yourself! You've become so strong! Imagine what good you could do in our fight for justice!" The lady started sweet talking Aldric.

"Don't do it, Aldric!" Hannah called out. The woman's expression immediately changed into red, hot anger.

"You! Girl! Shut your mouth!" She noticed Hannah's wings. "Do you not wish to fight for your own kind?"

"You know, I'm really getting tired of people assuming that I'm a Faunus."

"There! You see! Humans, looking down on us. Even here!" The lady continued to appeal to Aldric.

"Where's my father?" He asked, as if this sidetrack had never happened.

"Your father?"

"Yes, my father."

She had a very sad and slightly uncomfortable look, suddenly. "Unfortunately, he passed away recently. He wished he could have been here.

"Excuse me!" Hannah's father suddenly interrupted. Hannah was shocked by this. "I'm sorry, but if we're gonna play it like that, I'd like to point out that your father, Aldric, a human, who was an avid believer in Faunus Rights, was recently killed in an arson attack by the White Fang, trying to stop a protest turning violent. Continue."

Hannah would never admit it, but she was amazed at how much her father seemed to know about this. The lady in white shot him a look of absolute hatred. "His death was a necessary sacrifice to gain what we've been promised for so long now! I loved him! And he knew the risks of being with me!"

The lady took Aldric's hand. "My son. We're family. Come back with me! Together we can shape a new future for our entire race! We can finally be a family again!"

Aldric looked down. He thought about what she was saying long and hard. After a while he said. "You know, it doesn't sound all that bad, what you're saying. Finally knowing where I come from… who I am..." Hannah's heart sunk. She didn't know why she was so sad about this. She barely knew Aldric, but over the last few days they had formed a strong bond, that she feared was about to be broken.

"Right? Now, shall we go back-"

"Unfortunately, I will have to decline though." Hannah's face lit back up again.

"What?! But why?" Aldric's mother asked shocked. All her former posture had turned into desperation when she begged him to come with her and now just plain disbelief. "We're family!"

Aldric thought back to the night before, when he helped Hannah with her injury, her voice ringing in his ear: _"Well… Family is_

"No, we're not", he said, smiled at Hannah as he shook off his mother's hand, walked over to her, stood behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

" _Family is all the people with whom your heart feels at home."_

"Family is all the people with whom your heart feels at home, and my heart is at home right here, with the woman I love"

* * *

" _ **WHAT?!**_ " was the simultaneous reaction of Hannah, her father and Aldric's mother. Even Professor Ozpin choked on his coffee and silently said to himself: "Oh my..."

"Uhm- I uh, I'm- err, that's...", was the level Hannah's ability to form sentences right now. _Oh my god, did he seriously just say that?! What am I supposed to do?! I mean he's nice, but… I don't... or do I? I don't even know what to think anymore!_ She blushed, her heart racing and buried her face in her hands and wings.

Aldric's mother slowly regained her former posure. "Well, that's certainly unexpected. But honestly son, what do you see in this… this _Human?!"_

"I see hope. I see a guiding light, that has helped me more in my life than you could ever. My Guardian Angel. She watched over me, she's taught me, she's helped me find out what it is like to truly live, not only fight and survive. Which is all I ever got from you."

Aldric's mother was now fuming with rage.

"So I'm sorry 'mother'. But I will not come with you." He concluded and smiled at Hannah, which made her heart race even faster as she avoided eye contact.

Aldric's mother now seemed to have snapped from this. She flew into a rage cursing and stomping. "You're a fool, if you think you can evade our grasp! We're the White Fang! And any Faunus who try to stand in our way is an enemy and will suffer the same fate as all these humans here, once we've taken our rightful place!" She spewed between her teeth, but Professor Goodwitch stepped between her and Aldric and Professor Ozpin began speaking.

"Ok, that's enough. I've indulged your request for an audience long enough and my student has made his decision. I think it would be best if you were to leave now." Aldric's mother, breathing heavily turned around and stomped towards the elevator.

"You haven't seen the last of me!" She said pointing her talon at Hannah, as the elevator doors closed.

An awkward silence filled the room. No one was making eye contact with anyone, until Ozpin said: "I'm starting to question the name I chose for your team, Miss Himel. It seems you've already built a healthy harmony with your team, unlike your name would suggest!" Hannah blushed. Her father opened his mouth and was about to say something but she just shot him a look that was a mixture of annoyance, anger and mental exhaustion that said "Just don't", so he closed his mouth again.

"Now, for the second reason I called you here today, Aldric" Professor Ozpin continued as if nothing had happened, reached under his desk and pulled out a small box. He held it out to Aldric. "Here you go, son" He took the Box, opened it and Hannah saw two very normal looking, silver bracelets.

"John, would you care to explain?" Professor Ozpin said, as he leaned back in his chair.

"Right" Hannah's father said, took a breath from his cigarette and stood in front of Aldric. "So. These two are your new weapons. Or rather Equipment", he continued as Aldric put on the bracelets.

"I designed them based on what I saw during your fight yesterday. I noticed that you already have significant offensive power, but you lack in defense. So" He showed Aldric a quick, simple Hand gesture and told him to repeat it. The bracelets suddenly started unfolding like scales and were now bracers covering his entire forearms with small buckler shields attached.

"That's how they work. Also, if you put your hands together like this", he continued and showed his hands in a praying fashion. Aldric imitated and his Shields reconfigured into one, very large shield in front of him. "you can make it a tower shield, which requires both hands though. I must admit, I'm fairly happy with this piece, never designed a weapon purely based on defense before. Make sure to get a feel for it."

Aldric looked amazed at his new equipment. "Thank you very much, Professor."

Hannah's father waved his hand in front of his face lazily. "Ah, don't mention it. Ozpin asked me to make you something. Besides, just consider it a 'keep your hands off my daughter and you may keep it' gesture." Hannah blushed again and shot him another poisonous look.

"I believe this concludes our business?" Professor Ozpin asked Professor Goodwitch, who nodded.

"Well then. Enjoy the rest of your free day! Dismissed."

* * *

Hannah and Aldric were on their way back down the elevator. Before, on the way up it had been a nice, serene silence. Now, it was a _very_ awkward silence. _This is an unexpected turn in our… relationship._ Simply thinking it made Hannah blush.

"Are you alright? You look very red." Aldric said.

"Oh. Yes, yes, I'm fine, just a bit… you know… heart's racing, haha." Aldric's behavior towards Hannah hadn't changed. He was still the same, serious, gentle giant she'd come to expect of him.

As they arrived down in the courtyard, Hannah finally worked up the courage to ask: "So… did… did you… __mean__ what you said?" her heart was racing and she could feel her wings shaking.

"Of course", Aldric said as if she'd just asked a very silly question. "Why would I lie about that?"

"No reason, it's just… That's not usually something people just say like that, especially not in company and often keep to themselves..." Aldric laughed.

"That's stupid. Why should one ever keep something like love or other wonderful feelings to yourself? Isn't sharing these emotions with others what makes life worth living? I learned this today." He smiled at Hannah, making her heart race again and making her feel the need to look away. They kept walking across school grounds towards heir dorm building.

"So what if… What if I told you, that I don't feel the same?" Hannah asked unsurely, scared of the answer. Aldric sighed.

"Then I would be sad. Very sad. And after conquering my grief, I would wish for you to find someone who you do feel for. Because I cannot bear the thought of you never feeling this joy and this desire to make someone else happy as I feel it now."

Hannah thought about what he just said. _For someone who grew up without guidance, without parents, without anything, he sure has become wise._

Another thought shot into Hannah's mind. She remembered the article. _That was from 14 years ago…_ and her father telling her: "t _his young child of seven"_ Hannah turned around quickly, nearly hitting Aldric in the face with her wings by accident. "You're twenty-one years old?!" She asked in disbelief. He shrugged "I don't know. It's not like I counted..." and laughed.

They continued waking in silence for another short while until what Hannah feared happened: "So, Hannah. Do you feel the same?"

She stopped. They were near the shuttle bay and she could almost see Vale from where they stood. Hannah walked over to the edge, where they'd met for the first time. _Do I?_ She thought. After a while of just enjoying the wind, she made up her mind, took off a few feet and slowly descended over Aldric until they ended up in a bridal carry.

"You know, ever since you saved me from that Ursa in the Emerald Forest, I've felt my heart beat a bit faster when I looked at you. I've also been feeling this need to be close to you. I thought it was just instinct, telling me to stay close because you can protect me. But after today…" She reached for his cheek and leaned her head against his broad, muscly chest. "I think I've realized that I do feel the same way", Hannah concluded and blushed as Aldric carried her towards their dorm building. She looked up to see him smiling.

"I'm glad."

What Hannah didn't notice, as they returned to their dorms, was the brightly multicolored head poking out of their room's window, watching them from above.

"Interesting..." Vybe said, as he grinned and got back to work on the maintenance on his weapon.

* * *

 **Let the Love story/ies.. BEGIN! :)**

 **I was surprised at how much text this chapter ended up being, just like last chapter. That kind of thing apparently happens when you use notes instead of writing blindly! I must admit, I'm a little proud of the title I found for this chapter, though it may not be totally accurate ^-^'**


	9. Music of the Heart

**Heyoo, faithful readers! I'm back yet again! To those hoping I'd bring back some more combat, I'm sorry, but I will have to disappoint you. To those that like the interpersonal drama and (excuse the pun) Discord between Team HAVC's members, have fun!**

 **One way or another I've used up pretty much all story prompts I'd thought of so far so I will have to take a bit of a longer break between chapters after this one again, so just so you know: No, I'm not abandoning this story, I need to take a break, which I'm sure you all can relate to.**

* * *

Hannah and Aldric were heading up the stairs of their dorm building. The before awkward silence had given way to a serene and relaxing silence instead. _We haven't even been at Beacon for a week and already so much has happened…_ Hannah thought absentmindedly, as they reached their room.

Caroline was, as so often before, nowhere to be seen and Vybe, who was busy screwing in a few screws to his weapon and testing out the sounds it gave off – something very peculiar to Hannah – looked up as they entered.

"Welcome back. So, what did Ozpin want with you?" Vybe asked.

"Well-", Aldric began, but Hannah intervened hastily: "Aldric had… a visit from a relative. We shouldn't talk about it, there's bad blood. I'm gonna go take a shower."

Hannah headed into the bathroom. Since her morning workout, she hadn't really found time to shower. Only quickly washing off the blood from her face. Their bathroom was fairly large, considering their room really wasn't. Hannah was grateful for that considering the tedious process of getting in and out of shirts, hoodies and other tops as well as the extra space she needed in the shower.

So, she took a long while to get clean and fresh, thinking about how her relationship with Aldric was about to maybe change. _What would other people think? What would my team think? 'She barely knows him and already they're…'_ She shook off the thought. May others think what they might. Besides, that was a problem for Future-Hannah.

Hannah had a look at herself in the mirror. She turned to her side. _Did my wings grow again?_ She quickly, not so quickly, got dressed and left the bathroom. She saw Vybe quickly turn his head, looking at her from the corner of his eye, and she saw his hair turn into a faint pink, while he continued tuning his mixboard.

"You look unusually happy. Almost like you've got a bit of spring on your step", He said. _What's he up-_

Hannah's heart stopped for a moment, as she realized what he was playing. He could barely contain his laughter, giggling at her mischievously. Hannah recognized the music as an Organ from a wedding procession. She immediately went beet red. _How the hell does he know?!_

"Do you, Hannah take Aldric as your lawfully-"

Hannah panicked. She ran at him, pinned him to his chair and came very close to his face.

"When?! How?!" Hannah interrupted him loudly, breathing heavily.

"You two have gotten awfully close, haven't you? I could see your touching moment from all the way up here." Now he was just laughing loudly. Hannah let go of him and slumped to the ground defeated. _Already…?_

"You know", Vybe continued, now a bit more serious. "With the wings and your man being almost two and a half meters tall, you two aren't exactly inconspicuous. You should've expected someone to see you. Maybe more than one person… One way or another, you don't have to worry about me, I don't give flying dust with who you do what, as long as you let me do my thing. Besides", He continued as he finished screwing with his weapon, picking it up and checking if it configured correctly, turning it into a gun. He put it away satisfied.

"something like this is bound to come out eventually. Well, I'm gonna head down to Vale, meet some friends. See you later!"

Hannah was left sitting in the middle of their dorm room, alone. Or so she thought. _I see this is going to become complicated…_ She was about to get up and head to the library for some homework, when she nearly got a heart attack from the monotonous voice behind her: "So you and Aldric are now a so-called 'couple'?" Hannah let out a small yelp, as she turned around to see Caroline look at her, hanging upside down from the ceiling. She was merged down to her knees with the shadow of the curtains.

"Yeah, I guess we are...", Hannah said, as she fell backwards on her bed. She didn't know why, but she didn't want her team to know just yet. But aside from that, this simple question from Caroline actually made Hannah really happy.

* * *

Hannah had an eventful day. She visited her mother and told her about everything that had happened at beacon so far, save for her father, because she didn't want to open up old wounds, she went to the library and did some homework and after teaching Aldric to read some more, she sat down with him and Caroline for some strategy-talk. They made some basic drafts for combination attacks, but without Vybe, because unfortunately, Hannah couldn't reach him on his Scroll.

She had just finished dinner and was on her way back to their dorm. Aldric was still not done yet and Caroline was doing homework, so she was going alone. She just passed team JNPR's room, when she heard some faint music. A slow, peaceful and calming piano tune was playing.

Hannah also noticed that the door to their room was slightly ajar and she silently had a look through it. She saw Vybe, sitting quietly at his desk and staring at something on his Scroll, while his hair was waving ever so gently and slightly glowing in a purer white than even Weiss' hair. Hannah couldn't make out exactly what he was looking at, but it seemed to be some sort of Photo.

"That's a beautiful tune", She said as she entered. Vybe quickly and hastily fumbled with his scroll and put it away, clearly trying to avoid Hannah seeing what he was looking at. He cleared his throat and said: "Huh? What?"

"The music. It's nice. I like it far more than what you usually play." He looked at her confused.

"Music? What mu-" At that moment Hannah saw his face turn to horror. He looked in the mirror in shock, closed his eyes his hair returning to the usual blue and the music stopped.

Hannah looked at him questioningly and they exchanged looks for a second before Vybe turned away to change into his Pajamas. Hannah was honestly a little concerned about him. She put a hand on his shoulder and went: "Vybe? What's wrong?"

"Nothing"

"I can see that it's clearly not 'nothing'"

"Fine, it's something, but I don't want to talk about it"

"Vybe, I'm your leader. You know you can always-"

He suddenly spun around and said angrily:

"But I don't _WANT_ to talk to you about it, alright?! I barely know you! Being my leader doesn't change that!" Hannah hesitantly pulled back her hand. "Vybe..." She'd never seen him so upset before. He always seemed so unshakably happy, like Nora. He sighed.

"We should go to bed fairly early. Port said we'd do an excursion into Forever Fall tomorrow."

Vybe's strange behavior kept Hannah awake for hours. _I thought he could hear his own semblance? Granted, it would be both beneficial and detrimental if he couldn't, but I've never seen him activate it by accident…_

Eventually though, Hannah did fade away into sleep.

* * *

Hannah awoke the next morning to an odd sensation. Her mattress was very warm. And large. It didn't take her very long to realize, that for some reason, she was in Aldric's bed. Without him. He was sitting in a chair next to her, looking out the window and staring into the sunrise, lost in thought.

Hannah had no idea how she got into his bed, but she didn't exactly care at the moment. He looked troubled. So she got up, exchanged a smile with him, put her hands on his shoulders and asked: "What's wrong?"

"I'm thinking about yesterday." Hannah laid her hands around Aldric's neck and he took her hand. She had expected this.

"Do you regret your choice?"

"No."

"Then what troubles you?"

"What she was offering wasn't worth the price. But still, being so close to finally knowing who I am but letting it all go was hard too. In the end… I didn't even find out my real name" Hannah smiled.

"Well, I know who you are. You're Aldric, the big, strong frontline of Team HAVC. You're kind, a bit brash and surprisingly wise. You're all those things and you're mine", Hannah concluded, while playfully tugging at the base of Aldric's rope-hair, which was followed by an unnecessarily loud, annoyed groan from Vybe, who said: "Oh, for Dust's sake, get a room you two!" Hannah chuckled as she got ready for today's field trip.

* * *

The class was heading out for Forever Fall. Professor Port said, that today's lesson would be a mixture of learning experience and minor mission, since the last of the Beowolf, Ursa and Beringel specimen the school kept for various purposes including research, training, showmatches and more had all recently died.

And so, the class consisting of JNPR, HAVC, RWBY and CRDL was sent out to Forever Fall to attempt to capture some. Hannah was happy to find that her wing had completely healed up and she was flying above the rest of the class, keeping an eye out for Grimm.

It didn't take her long and as she saw a pack of Beowolves, she descended to the others.

"Ah, Miss Himel. Have you found something?"

"Yes, there's a small pack of beowolves about a hundred meters that way"

"Good work. Now remember what I've taught you, students and try to capture a few. I will be here, observing and help you if need be"

Team HAVC slowly crept through the bushes towards their prey. Hannah was about to suggest a plan, when Caroline just walked out of hiding towards the Grimm. _What is she doing!?_ Hannah thought, but her frustration was replaced by amazement quickly. Caroline was standing in front of a grimm, staring it down and **nothing** was happening.

Neither the Grimm nor Caroline attacked, they just looked at each other. She turned her head backwards slightly. "Shall we capture this one?" She asked in her classical monotonous demeanor. Hannah didn't get the chance to answer, because Aldric was already walking at the Grimm. Now it was aggressive, it howled and immediately charged at Aldric.

However, one lone Beowolf is not really a match for him, and when told to 'capture it alive' by Hannah with some very gruesome sounds of tearing flesh and splatters of black ichory blood across his face and chest, Aldric started dragging the heavily breathing body of the Beowolf that was now missing both its arms over back to Professor Port.

"Alive" He said as he threw the barely breathing, mutilated grimm at the Professor's feet.

"Ah, yes... thank you, but we need them alive and unharmed, if they're going to be used for Scientific purposes."

At that moment the rest of the pack, who'd heard the howl, were now descending onto the students. Everyone got ready for a fight, but all the Grimm stopped, when Vybe activated his semblance, letting out the familiar high pitched sound, stunning the grimm in agony.

"There you go", he said and smiled. "Now you can capture them. Or kill 'em. Or both." Hannah was amazed. Vybe's semblance was powerful enough to take an entire pack of grimm out of comission. The class started killing one Beowolf after another without resistance, keeping three alive that were restrained and put into large transportation containers.

In the end, the class wrapped up the mission nicely, with no real damage being sustained. Though yang and Aldric accidentally killed the first Ursa they were supposed to capture, they eventually found two more. The Beringel were hard to find, because they don't typically travel in groups, but eventually they found and captured one of those as well.

* * *

Hannah noticed that Vybe had been in a slightly worse mood ever since last night. He didn't participate much in class, which wasn't news, but he also didn't listen to music instead, which he usually did. _Ok, enough is enough_ , Hannah ultimately thought, as he still hadn't returned at 9pm that evening and she decided to go look for him. She asked around if any of the other teams may have seen him, but no one had a clue.

In the end though, Hannah found him where she least expected it: in the library, asleep. She decided to have a closer look. He was fast asleep, head on his arms over what looked to be a paper or something he'd been writing with his scroll unlocked next to him. The scroll caught Hannah's glance. On it she saw the photo of a beautiful young girl, about ten years old, smiling into the camera. She was wearing a light summer dress and had ashen hair, similar to the Schnees, but a bit darker.

 _Who is this?_ Hannah wondered, as she was about to wake Vybe up and have him come back to the dorm, when she looked at the piece of paper. It wasn't for school. It was a letter. It read:

"Dear Arianna,

you'll be pleased to know that I'm doing well. I made it into Beacon! My team's a bit weird, but we get along well enough and even though I sometimes wonder whether my leader is actually fit to lead, she regularly surprises me. We're a ragtag bunch if you've ever seen one, I can tell you that! We've got this huge guy, who's apparently a Faunus, but you wouldn't know from looking at him and my partner is a little weird. She fights with nothing but a sword, but she can disappear in shadows! How cool is that? And my leader. It's Ironic. Her partner is a Faunus, but looks like a human and she's a human that looks like a Faunus, because she's got these huge wings, which are apparently her semblance. Yeah, wings! Crazy, right? We all get along Ok, but our first fight didn't exactl-"

That's where the letter abruptly stopped. Hannah assumed that this was about where Vybe fell asleep. _Come to think of it, I barely know anything about his personal life…_ Hannah thought. She decided to wake him up after locking his scroll and putting it back in his pocket.

"Vybe. Vybe wake up!" She shook him a little.

"Wuh... what? Oh hey", he yawned. "Good morning?"

"Evening", Hannah said and held up her scroll, showing him the time. "Come on, if you're gonna sleep, go do it in our room." "But the table is really comfy!" He complained as Hannah helped him up. He must have been asleep for a while now because he was pretty groggy still.

They started walking back to their dorm in silence until Hannah thought: _No! Enough of this! It's time to start being a leader! I'll make him talk to me!_

She looked at him, he was lost in thought and looking out the hall windows, when Hannah took a deep breath and asked: "So who's Arianna?"

Vybe just immediately stopped and stared at her. "How do you know?" Hannah just help up the letter he'd been working on. He snatched it out of her hand and chuckled.

"Meddling again, are we?"

"Why won't you talk to me? I'm trying to help you!" Hannah was getting very frustrated with his childish behavior and their conversation was already starting to pick up some volume.

"Like I said before, I don't want your help. I'm all good."

"Well, you clearly do need it, if you're shutting yourself in so desperately!"

"I'm not shutting myself in!"

In her frustration Hannah started shouting: "Then talk to me! I want to know more about you!"

This response visibly surprised Vybe. Hannah took a deep breath and exhaled, as she continued walking and Vybe scratched behind his head and said: "Well, Miss Himel, I'm flattered, but you already have your brute and I don't think I'm ready for this sort of comm-" Before Hannah whacked him in lightly in the face with her wing to shut him up.

"Ow."

"Look, how can we be a team, if we can't even talk to each other? We're supposed to work together, but how can we hope to do that if you don't let us in? You talk to us, but your words are empty, you hear but you don't listen, you participate but you always do it alone and you don't care about our team dynamic. How is this supposed to work, Vybe?"

They'd now arrived at their room. Aldric and Caroline were already asleep and Vybe went to the windowsill, leaned out, staring into far away Vale. He took a deep breath and pulled out his scroll.

"Do you know why I always wear my headphones?"

"Well, because you like music, right?"

"Thanks, Captain Obvious, but also wear them so I can drown out my semblance. Stunning screeching can be very painful if you're subjected to it as well"

 _I knew it! He_ can _hear his own semblance!_

"but do you know why I couldn't hear my semblance last night?"

"I was wondering about that, but no"

"Yeah, I thought so", he said, swiped through his Scroll and handed it to Hannah. She looked at a very bizarre picture and instinctively blinked, because she couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing. It showed a young Vybe in a nice, black suit and with combed, ashen hair, smiling at the camera. It was almost surreal how different they looked in this picture and in reality.

"Alright, we're doing this... let's go back to the beginning then" Vybe began and sat down in his desk chair in front of the window. "You know, the Kingdoms are called 'Kingdoms' for a reason. Well, they've got ruling councils, but there's also still a royal family even now after the Great War, though their political power and influence has been greatly restricted"

Hannah had a good, long look at the photo, trying to cope with that actually being a past version of Vybe. "Wow, you look-"

"hideous, right?" He finished her sentence and laughed. "Don't worry, I know how I looked back then" Vybe continued and put on some quiet party music, his hair turning into a rainbow. "Prince Charming, entering the stage! Well anyway, my name isn't Vybe. It's Berran Cyél", he continued and stood up straight mockingly, taking up posture that was clearly supposed to resemble Weiss. "and I'm one of them. My father's the cousin of the current King of Atlas." Hannah was shocked at this reveal. _He's royalty?!_

"You're royalty?" Hannah asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, crazy, right? 'Prince Berran Cyél'. I still get the urge to vomit everytime I hear that... You're probably wondering why I'm here now. Well, my family would always perform during important happenings with the council or royal family. Kind of our role in the system, we were the performers who'd make the king and his 'entourage' look good. So, from age three I've been drilled to play the piano. And when my parents discovered my semblance and my love for music, my father put me through lessons every day. Don't get me wrong, I loved it!" He paused briefly and looked at Hannah with a sad smile. She got up, stood next to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"One day though, my parents and my sister went to one of these big processions or something. may have been some royal birthday banauet? I don't remember what it was, don't care either, really. I just remember that I really wanted to go when I was that age, but my father forced me to stay behind and keep practicing my piano. This was the first and only time that I didn't enjoy learning more about music."

Hannah noticed that his hair was turning white again and the piano started playing, but there was something else. Someone was singing. It was very faint, barely more than a whisper riding the tunes, but Hannah heard it. A lovely young girl's voice singing in a language Hannah couldn't understand, but she was entranced by the music.

"I couldn't go. I couldn't be there protect them. The event was ambushed by White Fang forces. They burnt down the entire building. And my mother and sister with it" Hannah could hear his voice break. She saw him smile sadly and a single tear ran down his cheek.

"while I was stuck at home playing that f*cking piano… I don't think me being there would've made much difference, but still... Ever since, I've been unable to hear pianos. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I just can't hear them. Even through my own semblance, and that worries me."

"Why does this worry you?" Hannah asked, very concerned for Vybe's well being. She had no idea he was so… so broken inside. He was always the first to smile in any situation…

"Your father told me about my semblance. It has two… _features_? I guess? When you heard me play last night, did you at all feel sad?" Hannah thought back on it, while continuing to listen to the faint singing and piano Vybe was still playing. It was at that moment, that Delila noticed that her eyes were starting to tear up too.

"That was- is my semblance. It's called **Influence.** I can make others hear what I want them to hear, and for some reason, that I don't know I can make those things touch their hearts… Not especially useful, but I've got it… I came to beacon to move on and to become strong enough to not have to repeat my past."

The music stopped, Vybe's hair returned to normal and he turned around to face Hannah. She felt really bad for having pushed him so far…

"So yeah. I can't hear my own semblance when playing the piano, not even when it's supposed to touch my heart. Does that mean that that part of my heart has died?"

Hannah didn't know what to say. She wiped her own tears from her face and said: "I... I'm sorry. I didn't know this was..."

"No, you couldn't have known. I know you only meant well and were trying to help." Vybe said while looking out the window. He took a deep breath before suddenly slapping both of his hands on his cheeks and shaking his head violently for a few seconds and looked Hannah in the eyes with renewed vigor, who was slightly put off by this behavior. "But you know what? I feel amazing right now! Like **holy shit** I feel like I could jump out the window and survive! Like, seriously, if I'd known talking about your problems can be this helpful, I would've done it the first day we met!"

Hannah looked at Vybe as of he was a maniac. "Uhm... Well... You're welcome? I think? No, wait! Urgh..." She said as Vybe walked over and gave Hannah a big hug while she tried curling into herself to avoid it.

"Thanks! Now I see why you were trying so hard to make me talk to you!" Vybe concluded, as he set Hannah back down on the ground. Hannah felt a large, heavy hand on her shoulder. Aldric had gotten up, clearly awake due to their not so silent conversation. He smiled at them and said: "Our leader just has something about her that makes you want to trust her. Besides we've all got some problems we need to work out eventually, right?" Hannah and Vybe immediately looked at Caroline in unison, who was still lying in bed, facing away.


	10. Fun Activities

**HEYOOO! I'm baaack! For those who were hoping for some more Fight scenes: Sorry, I'm continuing with the daily struggles and happenings of life with team HAVC. I did however try to make this chapter a bit on the funnier side than I've tried before, so if the humor gets too stupid for you or you cringe once or twice, Sorry!**

 **I should however add this Disclaimer, in case it ever comes up: I do not condone underage drinking. In this (my) alternate version of the RWBY universe, the legal drinking age in Vale is 18**

 **Have fun with the chapter!**

* * *

Vybe was sweating profusely. He was in a bind. Real trouble. Big trouble. And he had no Idea how to deal with it! _Think, damnit, think! What can I do? What can I do?_ Vybe had to think quickly. Very quickly. If he could wait for the right opportunity and exploit it correctly, he may get out of this. Not without some cuts and bruises, but he'd never give up without a fight! Still, the life of so many innocent civilians, good citizens were on the line and he wouldn't just abandon them!

But then, he saw it… imminent defeat, rushing towards him, all hope lost as…

 _Clatter_. "Thirty seven damage. I have now successfully taken down your kingdom's defenses and your CCT tower. I win" Caroline said, after rolling the dice. This was insane! She'd just won the third round in a row! And Vybe still had no idea how to see through her strategies! She actually sacrificed nine Atlesian Knights only to get one pawn squad behind enemy – his – lines!

"Aw man..." Vybe lamented, as he let his head down onto the library table the two of them were playing on. He hadn't anticipated Caroline to be such a competent opponent in this game. He didn't expect her at all to be good at games, period. But then again, he brought this upon himself, when he invited her to play this game against him.

Last night, Friday evening, Hannah had – as their leader – 'ordered' them to spend the day with their partners to get a feel for them as a person and not just a combatant. A Team building exercise.

Vybe suspected this was just an excuse for her to get some alone time with her mountain of muscle, but he complied anyway. Caroline always listened during strategy talk, but they had rarely spoken after initiation and they're supposed to be partners. Something had to change and this was a nice opportunity.

"How are you so good at this? I can't believe how you beat me three times in a row!"

"Your tactics are predictable. Using your airborne Grimm and thus utilizing your home field advantage was obviously the best choice, so I played around it. Why is leader Hannah not training with us though? She seems like the kind of person who would appreciate training in tactical thinking."

Vybe started resetting the board and shuffling the decks. "Well, she's either doing something very unproductive with Aldric or teaching him to read some more. And besides, people don't really play this game to train, they play to have fun!" he set down the cards. "Play one more?"

"What do you mean, play to have fun?"

"What?"

"Is this what people do for fun?" Caroline asked genuinely curious. Vybe was, as so often before, off put by her… being herself.

"Well, yeah! That's why it's called a game. You sound like you've never had fun in your life..."

"I haven't."

"Now then, which Kingdoms- Wait what?" Vybe asked surprised. He must've misheard her. Almost sounded like she just said she'd never had fun before in her life.

"I've never experienced this concept of 'Fun'."

"Pfft, come on. You must've had fun at _some_ point in your life, no matter how gloomy it may have been?"

Caroline shook her head.

Vybe sat there a good minute trying to process what Caroline had just said. And after a good long while of just staring into nothingness and thinking, Vybe made up his mind and got up. _No, no, no, we can't have this. This is like a personal insult to me. My partner's never had fun in her life?! Well, we're gonna have to change that._

He turned to her, smiled and put on some epic music, his hair going glowing bright golden. "You're in luck, partner! For I have just decided to make this day the most fun and amazing day of your life! Rejoice and follow me! We have a lot to do!"

"Sssssshhhhhhh!" Vybe heard from multiple people in the library and the librarian shot them a poisonous look.

* * *

Vybe and Caroline were running along the halls of their dorm building. Or rather, Vybe was the one running because he was excited about his plan and Caroline was submerged about an inch into his shadow, which made it look like she was just gliding across the floor at the same speed as him.

Vybe didn't usually do this much planning ahead. Usually he'd try to avoid it altogether, but this was a special occasion. They arrived in front of their room. Vybe had left his Scroll in there and wanted to talk to Hannah and Aldric anyway. He opened the door to a very interesting sight, though not an unexpected one.

At the very back of the room, up against the wall that separates their room from the bathroom, were Hannah and Aldric, kissing passionately as if it was the last day on earth.

"Is this also one of those 'fun' activities?" Caroline asked innocently.

At that moment, Hannah, who was facing them with her back to the wall, looked over in their direction and in horror locked eyes with the smug grin that Vybe knew was written all over his face right now. He watched as Hannah, started panicking and squirming around, though tightly held by Aldric, who was still sealing her mouth with his and still hadn't caught on that they weren't alone anymore as she unsuccessfully tried to get his attention.

"Why do you flail about so much, my love?" Aldric asked in the brief moment they separated, picked Hannah up and pressed her against the wall.

"Aldric, I-" She said, but didn't get much farther with Aldric immediately continuing the routine.

"Well, for some people, yeah. I'd say so" Vybe answered Caroline in a whisper, as he quickly grabbed his scroll from the desk and with the most devilish look he could muster up, took a photo of Aldric and Hannah, who was looking at him with a look that was just begging for mercy. After that, he cheekily waved Hannah goodbye, who was still trying to get a hold on the situation and slowly and quietly closed the door behind them.

"Haha! That was priceless! Did you see her- _Hmmpff_!" Vybe was just as surprised as Hannah when they just walked in because Caroline just decided to plant her lips on his as well, in the middle of the hallway. A few seconds later she released him. Now she was just staring at him.

"Errr… I, uhm… Thank you?" Vybe asked, not exactly sure how to deal with this situation.

"No good. I still do not think this is what fun is like..." Caroline said as if nothing had happened. "So, what else are we going to try?" She asked casually.

"Ah. Right. Yeah, my plans. Well, first of all..." Vybe said after collecting himself as he pulled out his scroll and texted Hannah. He wasn't quite mean enough to interrupt her and Aldric, so he decided to ask her if she and Aldric also wanted to come to the club tonight through a text. He just gave her the time and address and stopped worrying about them.

"What are you doing?" Caroline asked.

"Well, I've got a gig tonight. I'm DJ-ing at a local club down in Vale. Thought that might be fun and out of the kindness of my heart I was benevolent enough to also invite those two, in case they're done with each other by then." He said as he finished another similar text to Yang.

"So. Next up is…"

* * *

 _Alright, first Idea! Oh Dust, normally I'd never resort to this, but desperate times call for desperate measures after all!_ Vybe thought, pulled together some courage and knocked.

"Come in!" a muffled voice came from inside. Vybe practically blasted through the door. He was having great fun this day. "Hello, team RWBY!" Team RWBY was sitting in their room doing what Vybe would expect them to be doing. Blake was reading, Yang was doing who knows what on her scroll, Ruby was going through her comics and Weiss was doing homework or studying. One of the two.

"Oh, hey man", Yang said and got up. "Got your message, I'm definitely in! Sounds like fun!"

"Yang, what are you up to?" Weiss asked suspicious of the blonde brawler.

"Relax. Vybe is throwing some beats around town tonight and asked if I wanted to come. I won't miss this!"

"Are you sure that's -" Ruby began, but was interrupted by Yang and Vybe, who said in unison: "It'll be fine!"

"Soo, what can we help you with?" Ruby asked. Vybe remembered why they originally came here. "That's right! Blake, do you have any recommendations for good books?"

All of team RWBY looked genuinely surprised. Even Blake interrupted herself in the middle of reading and looked up. "Are you serious?" She asked.

"Well, yeah. It's not for myself of course, who do you take me for?" He asked and laughed. "No, it's for Caroline here-" He turned around to find that she was gone once again. But Team HAVC has been at Beacon for a couple of weeks now and Vybe knew exactly where she was hiding.

He leaned down to his own shadow and said: "Caroline, you're acting like a child. I'm trying to get these people to help you, so the least you could do is attend!" His scolding seemed to have an effect as slowly, Caroline crept back up from underneath Vybe.

"So, like I said, do you have any recommendations? You and Caroline are both not… well… _normal_ , so I thought maybe you have one or two books she'd like." Blake looked unnaturally alive as he said that.

"Well, I do have some nice books. Lemme get some for you!" She said with a smile. A short while later, she reappeared with about eight large tomes. "These are the ones I could think of. You can borrow them, I've read all at least twice" she said and continued talking about the plot of each of the ones, at which point Vybe's ears just naturally turned off, not at all interested.

Caroline picked up one tome and started reading the back. Her eyebrows grew wider and more furrowed with every passing second. Finally she asked: "Did this really happen to someone?" Blake had a look at the cover. "Oh no, that one's fiction. Actually all my books are fiction, some are loosely based on real stories"

Caroline raised her second Eyebrow. "If they don't tell real stories, what is the point in reading these?"

"Well, fun of course" Blake said and was about to be asked another question by Caroline, but Vybe took the tome from her hands and put it down. Clearly this wasn't working.

"Alright, fine. Maybe no reading. No worries, Caroline we'll find something fun for you to do yet!" Vybe said with resolve. There had to be _something_ that she liked doing.

"Well, if you want something educational", Ruby said as she jumped off her very unstable looking bunk bed. "maybe this will tickle your fancy!" She concluded as she pulled a thin magazine from the shelf on which most of Blake's Books were stored.

It said 'From power drills to dust ammunition, we have it all here at Kornius' Emporium of Huntsman and Huntress Equipment!' _Oh no…_ Vybe thought as he rolled his eyes and sighed. _Is she going to go full nerd ag-_ -

"Their stock is amazing! I've actually gotten them to make me custom cartridges for Crescent Rose with the emblem of the dust ammo on it that they're delivered with! I've already got one for Fire, one for Lightning and I'm saving up to get one for Ice next!"

If Ruby was a Faunus, Vybe would expect her to be wagging her tail in excitement right about now. Vybe turned Caroline around by the shoulders and was about to push her outside the room saying: "Yeah, no I don't think so. Maybe next time, Ruby!" But he lost his grip on her, as she – in one fluid movement – ducked into his shadow and reappeared behind him again, facing Ruby. "Do you think they have anything for my Sword?"

Ruby's face lit up. She seemed delighted to finally have someone to talk to about weapons. "Totally! What can your sword do again?"

"It cuts." Vybe facepalmed. This was not going to work out, and he saw it coming.

"Well, in that case- what?"

"It cuts." Ruby waited for Caroline to say more, but she didn't so Ruby continued: "Does it do anything else? Is it also a gun?"

"No."

Ruby laughed nervously, never really having experienced Caroline's unique personality in such intensity.

"Well… maybe you can get an upgrade? Or something to sharpen it?" Ruby suggested and shrugged.

"I should look into this" Caroline concluded and Vybe groaned. _Great, now I get to go babysit my partner while shopping with the weapons geek…_

* * *

Vybe had no idea why he didn't just disobey Hannah's order to spend the day with Caroline and ditch her. He was about to die of boredom! Caroline and Ruby had been inside this weapons shop for two and a half hours now and were still not done!

He couldn't bear listening to Ruby ramble on any longer after about twenty minutes, so he got some food instead. This girl was absolutely nuts. The store clerk almost talked her into buying oversized grenades filled with fire dust!

Vybe took out his scroll on which he had a list of activities he thought might be worth trying out. Three of his items were already scratched off the list:

 **\- Board games**

 **\- Books**

 **\- Nerd shopping (?)**

He was just thinking what on the list to try next, when Ruby and Caroline finally came out of the store. As Vybe expected, Ruby had two bags full of stuff and Caroline was carrying… a leaflet.

"So, did you find anything interesting?" Vybe asked, not really caring about the answer. Ruby immediately started freaking out about all her new stuff, but Caroline just said: "No, not really. Though one of the mechanics said that if I came back within a week he would give me a deal on making my sword Dust compatible, which does sound promising as it would give me an additional edge in battle." Vybe sighed.

"Well, did you have fun? Did time fly by quicker than you thought and you briefly forgot about all other problems?"

"No."

"Well, then in that case, let's try something else..."

* * *

"YOU'LL NEVER BEAT ME! I'M QUEEN OF THE CASTLE! I'M QUEEN OF THE CASTLE!" Vybe heard Nora shout challengingly from behind closed doors, followed by some bickering.

"We'll see about that, Nora! I'll have you know I've completed the campaign on legendary! Twice!" Jaune said far more confident than Vybe had ever heard him before.

"Is this sniper rifle? And what's with these controls?" Ren asked confused, followed by Pyrrha: "So which button do I use to shoot again? This one? Hmmm… Wait, no! That's a grenade!"

 _That definitely sounds like fun!_ Vybe thought, as he knocked on team JNPR's room. He was a bit surprised though, when instead of the typical 'Come in!' the door flung open in his face and there stood Nora, her eye twitching.

"WHAT?! Oh, hey Vybe, Caroline. How you doing?" She smiled at them, all her furious spirit of competition gone in an instant. Vybe looked over her shoulder to find all of team JNPR sitting in front of their TV, scrolls out and playing a first person shooter, apparently against each other.

"We're great thanks. But I think our day could be a bit better still! Mind if we join you?" Vybe asked, at which moment Pyrrha died, by falling off a cliff and Ren got sniped by Jaune, who laughed triumphantly.

"And that is how it is done!"

"You know what?" Pyrrha said with a slightly strained voice. It was clear that she was at least slightly frustrated. "I was just leaving to go study a bit in the library. One of you can take over for me!"

Ren, surprisingly frustrated at his defeat as well, packed up his scroll, got up and said: "Me too, so have at it."

"Sweet! Come on, Caroline! Let's try it! You'll definitely be having fun after this one!"

And so, soon after quickly having the rules and controls explained by Jaune with the occasional comment from Nora, the match begun. It was a free for all, all weapons allowed deathmatch between the four. Vybe didn't do very well, he was never the video game guy anyway, but he was definitely having fun, if only for the few times he stabbed Jaune in the back.

Nora cleaned them both up multiple times, because she'd somehow managed to get her hands on a grenade launcher, and obviously she was all to familiar with the trajectory at which those rounds flew. She didn't come out on top though.

Throughout the entire match, Caroline was absolutely dominating. She claimed to have never played before, but to everyone's surprise she regularly managed to dodge Nora's grenades, anticipate when Vybe would try to sneak up behind her and pull the trigger faster when she was in a long range stand-off with Jaune. In the end…

" _Team 2 wins!"_ Nora stared at the TV in horror. "WHAT?! HOW COULD I LOSE?!" She started screaming, as she grabbed the TV and rattled it as if that would make any difference. She glared at Caroline. "Rematch! Tomorrow at noon! Be here and I will crush you, I swear!"

Caroline wasn't even listening, because Vybe had given her a friendly knock on the shoulder. "Wow, you're really good!" Vybe said. _She must have enjoyed this one!_ "So, did you have fun?"

Caroline looked at him, unsure how to answer this question. "It certainly helped me to find out more about all your individual skills"

"Yeah, yeah, but… Did time fly by quicker than you thought and you briefly forgot about all other problems?"

"No."

Vybe sighed as he rubbed his eyes in despair. This was getting ridiculous. Vybe was beginning to run out of Ideas, but he still had a few left!

"Alright then. Change of plans..."

* * *

 _Never thought I'd ever go here outside of school activities…_ Vybe thought as his and Caroline's trek brought them to the edge of Forever Fall. Vybe knew the chances were slim, but some people become Huntsmen or Huntresses for the fun of it. The thrill of killing monsters. And maybe that could be fun for Caroline… maybe.

"Vybe, what are we doing here?" Caroline asked in her never changing monotonous voice.

"We are going to hunt some Grimm. I enjoy it, maybe you'll have fun with it too. For me, it's a sense of power because I'm pretty good at taking them out, if I do say so myself, so I enjoy… just being superior to Grimm. It's unfortunate Hannah isn't here or we could try that new combination move she thought of. Oh well."

They continued walking relatively deep into the forest for a while, not coming across any Grimm so far, which surprised Vybe. Forever fall may not be teeming with Grimm like the Emerald Forest does, but it's still a very hospitable area for Grimm. Vybe decided to try and strike up some conversation.

"So what Grimm do you like killing the most?"

"I do not have a preference. Do you?"

"Ursai. They're all tough and strong until I use my semblance, which makes them easy to kill. Very easy. You know, I think Forever Fall is perfect for letting off some steam, because you can go all out mayhem! No need to hold back, especially when you're being stalked like we've been for the last ten minutes by that Griffon behind us." Vybe said casually.

Caroline turned around, her eyebrow raised and indeed saw a well hidden Griffon about 50 meters behind them, which she wouldn't have without Vybe pointing it out.

"Well, that thing is gonna jump us soon", he said as he got his weapon out and configured it into Shotgun mode. Vybe was very proud of his invention, Blast. Blast was something like a DJ and Huntsman multitool. It had three configurations, which take the form of a shotgun, a hoverboard and a mixboard plus the stowed mode. "so shall we get their attention?" Vybe grinned mischievously and fired up his semblance, playing obnoxiously loud dubstep and his hair looking like it was made of a rainbow on Recreational Dust. He even saw Caroline put her hands over her ears.

And just like on cue, as the music stopped, they began to hear lots of growls around them and the Griffon attacked.

Their fight wasn't especially interesting or challenging, since no real threats showed up. The griffon took the longest to kill since they are considered more dangerous than the who knows how many Beowolves, that showed up to the slaughter, but Vybe didn't use his semblance all that much. He just used it when he was about to be hit to give Caroline the most time to actually enjoy the fight and not only kill motionless bodies. Vybe was amazed at her skill with that simple sword.

When she wasn't hiding and waiting for her opportunity, like she usually did, she was slashing through those Grimm like they were butter and at speeds that Vybe never even knew were possible. She was like a storm of steel and shadow, flying through one Grimm after another. She also made very efficient offensive use of her semblance, using it mostly to dodge downwards before reappearing from another angle and eviscerating whatever Grimm she was currently focusing on.

In the end, Vybe's Aura had been depleted by about half, so no threats there. Caroline was covered in Black ichor all over her white suit. She quickly wiped off most of it, but still looked like she had a hard battle behind her. A bit misleading, considering she wasn't hit at all during that fight.

"So", Vybe concluded, sitting on a wheezing Beowolf as he loaded a shot into Blast and quickly executed the Grimm.

"Did you have fun?"

Caroline looked around the already disintegrating bodies. She sighed.

"Not particularly, no."

Vybe let out a loud groan. _Ok, fine._ He thought, checking his watch. It was getting pretty late. _Last resort…_

"Alright then, let's get going", he said as he wiped some dead Grimm parts off of Blast.

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to a **PARTYYYY**!" Vybe shouted excitedly, as he put on the same dubstep tune as before and started heading back to Beacon.

* * *

Vybe and Caroline were walking through the Beacon Courtyard, listening to some of Vybe's own compositions. Admittedly, they were a bit off the beaten path, when it comes to current music trends but Vybe always liked to keep it fresh. New. Interesting.

He was about to put on another one of his newer creations with his semblance, when he heard a familiar rhythmic whooshing. The flapping of large wings. He looked up and turned around, scanning the sky and expecting to find Hannah somewhere around when _**WHACK**_ she planted her knee in his face at high speed, crashing into the ground and pinning him in the process.

"Ohohoho, wow. That hurt. You should remember that one! That's one mean kick… It's very effective!" Vybe admired her improvised melee attack against him and laughed. She placed her wings on his stretched out arms and grabbed him by the jacket, pulling him in real close. She had the look of an absolute maniac on her face.

"Give me your Scroll. Now" She ordered him. It sounded more like a threat than a demand, but still. It was obvious that she wanted to delete the photo he took earlier today.

"Relax, you fury! I already deleted that picture", Vybe said, as Hannah visibly relaxed, loosening her grip on his jacket.

"… after I sent that picture to you and made it my new Scroll background", Vybe snickered.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Hannah screamed. At that moment Aldric arrived and he was breathing quite heavily. It seemed like Hannah had been flying ahead or around looking for Vybe, while Aldric desperately tried to keep up on foot.

"Hannah, why are you doing this to yourself?" He asked before he saw Vybe, still pinned to the ground.

"Because I don't fancy being made fun of more than I already am!" She said angrily, letting out her frustration by rattling Vybe by his jacket.

"Hannah, leader of team HAVC, the most dysfunctional team of Beacon! The girl whose semblance is about as hard to miss as a Goliath in a library, and now the girl who hooked up with her own partner? No, thank you!"

"Children, please! What is going on here?" A voice behind Aldric said. Hannah's father was standing there, smoking as usual and looking rather confused. Hannah didn't look up from Vybe's face. Her hair was hanging in his face now and starting to tickle his nose.

"Nothing", she said. "Team internal affairs."

"Honey, you can't just assault another student, even if they are your-"

"I told you not to call me that!"

All the while, Caroline had been quietly observing this chaos. She wasn't exactly listening to Hannah, who was still sitting on Vybe's stomach, holding onto his jacket and bickering with her father _again_. Instead she leaned down to Vybe and asked: "So, would you consider this to be fun?"

Vybe looked back up at Hannah, who looked like she was close to firing poison or acid from her eyes at her father, who in turn, had started angrily shouting at Aldric, after finding out about the picture, or rather what they were doing in that picture, and Aldric trying to stop Hannah from assaulting her own father. Vybe grinned happily.

"Chaos and Shenanigans with your friends? Hell yeah, this is fun!"

* * *

"You're not serious, are you Vybe?" Hannah asked unsurely, looking around the rather packed nightclub, music already in full swing and people drinking and dancing everywhere. Vybe was still amazed that he managed to talk her into coming with him, Caroline and Yang to one of the Clubs in town called 'The Nook'.

"Don't worry, I'll get you to dance. If it comes to it, I'll just use the second part of my semblance." Vybe smiled at Hannah.

She hadn't been to one of these establishments and never really planned on coming to one, but she does like dancing as a pastime, so she thought why not try it? Aldric had a few… _hours_ of workout left to do anyways.

"Ah, home sweet home", Yang said, as she whipped her hair back. "Well, I'm gonna go have fun! See you later!" She said before disappearing into the crowd. Vybe looked at Caroline, who seemed a little too much… herself in this situation. She looked as cold as ever and her eyes were wandering at incredible speeds, observing and trying to capture everything that was happening around her. _Alright… basic survival guide!_ Vybe thought as he approached Caroline.

Vybe put an arm around her shoulders. "What do you think?"

"This is interesting. Very different from our usual environment."

"Right? So. Most importantly. You can get drinks from any of the bars over there or outside. The main objective here is simple: Mingle, dance, drink and enjoy yourself. I'm going to have to head up the stage soon, my… shift? I guess? Is coming up soon. Try to have fun, Partner!"

Hannah was incredibly uncomfortable. She was currently standing alone at the bar, drinking her third non-alcoholic drink and observing. She was pretty used to being stared at, but in here, all the people staring was very awkward, since drawing attention to yourself through your moves was kind of the objective of this, but she wasn't even moving yet.

Hannah sighed and took another sip from her drink, but choked when she jumped at the feeling of someone gently stroking her wings. Coughing, she spun around to see Yang chuckling at her expense.

"Hey Feather! Seriously, you need to loosen up a bit. Don't worry, everyone thinks they suck at dancing, but it doesn't matter how good you are as long as you're having fun. Besides, Vybe is about to go up as DJ, you're gonna want to show him you've got his back!"

"So, just relax?"

"Yeah, just relax. Besides, you can always use your unique assets to spice up your moves!" Yang said as she pointed at her own back.

* * *

"Alright, everyone we've got a special treat for you tonight! A guest DJ from Beacon academy, mixing for us tonight! It's time for DJ IzeB3rg!" A voice called out from the speakers, as Vybe took the stage, set up Blast and thought about what to start with. Unlike many other performers, Vybe had no plan whatsoever what to do. He always just improvised.

As he started up the first hard bass, he looked through the crowd. He did spot Yang dragging Hannah by the hand onto the dance floor and Caroline mixing with the people. To Vybe's great surprise it didn't take either of them very long to fit in. Caroline first observed the crowd for a while and then started imitating some of the moves she saw. People were turning their heads and for good reason! Vybe was impressed.

Hannah was definitely not lying when she told him earlier "Well, I'm a pretty good dancer myself, so sure, why not?"

She was shuffling away like a pro, not missing a single beat and regularly replacing a routine step with a new one. He had a feeling that her wings were helping her to keep balance, even if she had to be careful not to hit anyone with them.

Vybe was now working both his semblance and his board and was about to bring it to another level, playing two different songs at the same time with his semblance, which was already lit up like a rainbow, while also keeping his board going on the next big drop, when he heard 'wow's and impressed groans go through the crowd.

He looked over to see a crowd having gathered around Caroline. Vybe smiled. She was smart. Very smart. She was using her semblance in conjunction with the stage lighting going through the crowd to make her moves look inhuman. The most impressive was arguably when she sunk into the ground to her waist and mimicked the movements of walking while turning around her midsection, making it look like she was walking around herself.

Much attention was also caught by Hannah, who from the middle of the crowd jumped a good seven meters into the air doing a pirouette and continued dancing up there for a few seconds, before landing again and earning a few cheers.

And so, eventually Vybe's performance came to an end with roaring applause and with the four of them exiting the club. Hannah hadn't used her feet this much in a long time, but she had to admit, this had been pretty fun.

* * *

Vybe, Yang, Hannah and Caroline exited the loud building. Some people were leaving with them, a few, much less people were entering just now.

"That was awesome! How did I not know you were so good at dancing?!" Yang asked excitedly, looking back and forth between Caroline and Hannah.

"Well, you never asked" Hannah laughed. "What do you expect? Me going around bragging about this?"

"And that one super fast track! That was awesome!" Yang continued as she grabbed Vybe by his jacket. "Tell me when your next gig is as well! I need to hear that again!"

"Well, I don't have one yet, but I'll let you know. It's getting pretty late, I think we should make our way back to Beacon."

"What?" Yang asked in disbelief. "I'm not done yet!"

"Well, we are and we're gonna go, I think", Hannah said and chuckled. "Have fun Yang, stay safe!"

They started walking, Hannah stumbling about a little clumsily. Her feet were sore and she didn't want to leave her teammates. Vybe though seemed to have read her mind and said: "You don't have to walk with us, fearless leader. You're making my feet hurt by just looking at you. Don't worry about us, we'll be fine! Fly ahead. I'm pretty sure someone's waiting for you anyway?"

He smirked at Hannah, who – for a change – didn't retort to his teasing and just took off after wishing them a good night and safe return. Now it was just Vybe and Caroline. Vybe was humming a relaxing tune, not with his semblance for a change, but just because he was in a good mood. Tonight was awesome! It was then and there he remembered his original goal of doing all this.

He turned to Caroline and asked in anticipation: "sooo, this **must** have been fun for you! The way you were busting moves back there, totally in your element right?"

Caroline looked down and appeared to be thinking. She took a deep breath, sighed and said: "No, I still do not think I have learned what fun is. I only did what other people were doing. Peculiar pastime though, I admit."

Vybe was at the end of his wisdom. If this wasn't enough, then what could possibly be fun for Caroline. He was already starting to think what else he could try, pondering other unlikely free time activities, when he heard her say: "Vybe, it is alright. You need not push yourself so hard."

"What?" he asked absentmindedly. "Don't worry, I'll figure something out!" He said and smiled, but his reassurance was met with iron denial.

"No, you will not. I should probably have saved you some of your wasted effort, Vybe. Apologies. I cannot have fun" Caroline said. Vybe looked at her curiously and scoffed, sure that his plan will work eventually.

"Okay, now you're just being pessimistic. There must be something for you to have fun with! Let's see..." he said as he pulled out his scroll and looked over his activities list.

"No, Vybe, you do not understand" Caroline continued, as she disappeared into nothingness and reappeared right in front of him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I am physically unable to have fun."

Vybe was unsure what to make of this statement, but even in her always monotonous demeanor, Caroline seemed more serious than usual.

"What do you mean?" Vybe asked, now a little off put and unsure.

"I cannot have fun, because I have no emotions, Vybe. Literally. My Aura, my soul is empty aside from the fact that I'm human. During Initiation, you asked me why my semblance is called **A Price to Pay**. My emotions are the price I have paid for this power" Caroline said, as she disappeared from in front of him.

He looked around, now slightly scared. She wasn't being serious, right? He spotted her hanging from the roof of one of the buildings that was next to them.

"How did you get up there? And what do you mean by 'this power'?" Vybe asked, concerned for his awkward, but still very dear teammate.

"Vybe, what is the night, technically?" Caroline asked, as she jumped off the roof into the ground, disappearing entirely. She didn't give him time to answer her question, because she did so herself: "My semblance lets me merge with shadows" She said right behind him, startling him. "The night is essentially the sun casting one giant shadow over half of the world. That is 'A Price to Pay'. My semblance makes me the Night."


	11. Seeds of HAVC

**I'M BAAAAAAAAAACK! Greetings random reader, whoever you may be!**

 **I'm here to make the usual announcement of Yes, this is and will be a work in progress, what else is new. I apologise if this chapter seems a bit rough around the edges and includes some not so well explained cuts. I originally planned to make the entirety of this chapter a part of the next one as well and then I noticed that I was already above 3000 words, so I decided to make two out of it. Obviously thi means that this chapter is more of a... setup for the next one.**

 **Nontheless I do hope you enjoy this!**

* * *

"What… What do you mean, you have no emotions?" Vybe asked, concerned for his partner. Caroline wasn't even walking, as she accompanied him back to the beacon shuttle, she was just gliding through the shadow of night, disappearing and reappearing somewhere else occasionally.

"I meant what I said. I have no emotions. You are probably wondering how this came to be." She looked at him questioningly.

"Oh, you think? Of course I am! This is… very disturbing news! And alarming! And very difficult to take in all at once..." Vybe said. He was genuinely scared. For Caroline's sake. This was no time for his usual jokes and stupidity.

"Well. I have not had emotions for as long as I can remember. I was always confused by people's behavior as a child, but in the end, I learned even if I never experienced. It all started with my mother."

Vybe raised an eyebrow. Family ties didn't usually affect Semblance much except in a few cases, like the Schnees. "Your mother? What's this got to do with her?"

"Everything. My mother was a Huntress. Long ago, she was a Beacon graduate. As you know, some teams stay together when they leave beacon and some split up. My mother's and father's team stuck together for a few years after they graduated. They traveled a lot. When I think about it, my mother was a lot like you, Vybe"

Vybe was surprised by this. "Like me?"

"Yes. Or at least so I was told. To quote my father: 'Lively, loud, annoying, reckless, funny and compassionate'. Naturally, she was also a thrill seeker. And one day, they took a 'Hunt and Kill' mission. A very dangerous one. A new type of gargantuan Grimm had been discovered near Mistral and they needed Huntsmen and Huntresses to kill it."

Vybe was slowly getting where this story was going. And he didn't like it at all. They'd arrived at the station and were now waiting for the next ship, which was scheduled to arrive in fifteen minutes.

"So, they went after it, they found it and they fought it. Unsuccessfully. A long and gruesome battle ensued., after which both of my mother's and father's teammates died that day."

 _Such is the fate of monster slayers…_ Vybe thought.

"They barely escaped, but not before dealing this Grimm a grievous blow, wounding it gravely and burying it under a mountain of rubble. My mother however, took a near fatal hit and a piece of the Grimm got stuck inside her."

Caroline pointed at her own stomach. Vybe was getting a better and better picture of what kind of story she was telling here.

"She grew very sick and weak. To make matters worse, she was pregnant with me and ultimately, she was close to death when I was born. My father told me I was born with raven black hair, despite my parents being a blonde and a ginger. Miraculously, my mother survived and recovered rapidly afterwards. But she was put off by me as a baby because I never cried, I never laughed. She got Grimm scientists to take a look at me and finally found out what was wrong. I had no emotions. Pregnancy pulls from the mother's aura as energy to make sure the child grows and her aura was scarred. Tainted. The eight months of negative influence changed me before I was born. My mother fell into a deep depression. She blamed herself for my condition and hated herself for it. And finally, when I was three, she killed herself."

Vybe gasped. "Your mother… killed herself? Out of guilt?"

"Apparently. She went into the forests of Anima without armor and without a weapon. She never came back. My father raised me the best he could. We do not talk much these days, as I remind him too much of her."

Vybe looked down. This story was even more tragic than his own… he could barely believe someone with worse trauma than him was at beacon. "So… why do you want to become a huntress then?"

"Because I want to finish what my parents started. That Grimm is not dead to this day and I hope to finally feel… something, even if it were only grief if I can finally kill it."

Vybe wondered about her story for a while. _The Grimm truly are monsters if they put people through something like this! How could anybody live like this? This is unacceptable and if there is only the slightest chance to remedy this affliction, I will find it!_

Caroline felt him put his hand on her shoulder. She looked over to see him staring into her eyes with a look of determination like he could lift the world. She heard slow, ominous music playing and like an explosion, Vybe's hair lit up in a bright orange light, appearing like it was burning. He was using his own semblance making himself feel determined.

"Don't worry, partner. You're not alone. I- _We_ _**WILL**_ kill this thing and if it's the last thing I do!" Caroline studied his face for a few seconds. She'd seen this expression a few times before, mostly on Aldric's face. She'd come to understand that this expression was anger in it's highest form. Burning, boiling, red, hot Fury.

* * *

Hannah was flying across School grounds, looking for Aldric. She knew what he was doing, but not where. Professor Himel – she still hated that name – had given them all the homework to think of and practice a 'special move' that they would be adding to their fighting style.

This was a long term homework so they had plenty of time to do it, but most of team HAVC were struggling a little with what they should try. Vybe had started trying to focus his semblance into one direction, which wasn't really working so far and Caroline had started utilizing lightning dust to make the shadow she was inhabiting into kind of a stun trap. Hannah had no clue what she was supposed to do, but she would come up with something eventually.

She was just thinking that maybe the fairly close Forever Fall could be a good training spot, when she heard an explosion and saw smoke rise from where she just thought he'd gone. She smiled. _So predictable…_

Hannah made her way over to hear what sounded like a fight between two people. She saw Aldric sparring with Yang, but they weren't going at it. Hannah landed a way away and walked up. She saw them both pretty beat up and panting, when it clicked inside her head. _They're helping each other with their moves!_

At that moment, Aldric shouted: "One more time!" And took a few steps back. Yang went into a defensive stance, something very perplexing to Hannah, as Aldric jumped straight into the air, one of his inhumanly far or high pounces. He went higher than Hannah was flying when she spotted them.

Hannah was always amazed again and again at how high and far he could jump. At the highest point, she saw him suddenly breath fire in yang's direction. He didn't have the range to hit her from up there, so what was he doing, Hannah wondered. The fire wasn't just burning away though, and as Aldric started falling back down towards Yang, it was sticking to his skin, like a cloak and Hannah realized what he had in mind.

 _He isn't seriously gonna…Yeah. He is._ Hannah thought, as she heard him shout: "Dragon…!" and finished, as he landed on his feet right in front of Yang: " **IMPAAACT!"** , creating a crater and the flames around him dispersing violently and causing a massive explosion, with more destructive firepower than she'd ever seen him apply to any other one attack. Hannah was amazed at the amount of power he could put into that.

 _Wow… ok, no. I'm gonna have to disallow him from using that..._ Hannah thought as the dust settled and she saw both Yang and Aldric covered in dirt and bruises, Aldric also covered in light burns. She stepped out from the treeline into the clearing Aldric had just created. _Why must he always be so reckless..._

* * *

 _Finally!_ Hannah thought. Today was the day Team HAVC and all the other teams from their class would finally go on a mission! Well, the official description was 'assisting a licensed Huntsman or Huntress in the field' but it was exciting nonetheless.

Team HAVC was just entering the assembly hall, in which screens had been set up so that students could get a look at the missions before choosing. The boards were separated by mission type and the missions were divided up into which classes could go on what missions.

"So, what do you guys have in mind? We've got Extermination, Search and Destroy, Rescues, though those are for third years and above only, Escort and Reconnaissance Missions" Hannah asked her team.

She'd come to understand that she may be the one with the final say, but should always heed input from her teammates. But, just as she expected, Aldric just shrugged, Caroline said: "I do not have a specific preference" and Vybe, the only one interested said: "Search and Destroy or Extermination of course! We need some action!"

Hannah was about to go over to the Search and Destroy board when she heard someone say behind her: "Ah, Team HAVC! Good thing I finally found you. Professor Ozpin wishes to speak with you."

Hannah turned around to see Professor Goodwitch approaching them and sighed. She figured something like this would happen. Team HAVC had improved greatly, but especially in Combat Training they were still struggling.

They were all very strong individually, especially now that they were developing special moves, but their teamwork always… got out of hand and ended up causing their planning and tactics to barely apply, while other teams like JNPR and RWBY were already making strides in creating combination attacks. Hannah was so far only able to think of one.

So they found themselves on their way up Beacon tower to Professor Ozpin's office. As they arrived he was currently reviewing some video material and paused it as they entered.

"Ah, good, there you are students. Now. You're probably wondering why I called you here", Professor Ozpin said as he got up, took a sip from his coffee and started walking around his desk towards them.

"The reason is very simple. I have a special assignment in mind for your team, that will… play off of your strengths." Hannah was starting to get a bit down. It was a little disheartening to know that they were being assigned a specific mission due to their lack of adaptability and teamwork. Ozpin continued, as he started searching through his scroll.

"Your mission is very simple. You will set out to Forever Fall, where you will find and destroy any Grimm nests you come across. The Grimm activity there has been decreasing recently and I have a feeling that they are vulnerable enough for us to strike a blow at their core. Your supervising teacher on this mission will be", at which moment the doors to the elevator opened again and to Hannah's disappointment, none else but her father entered the room. "Professor Himel here", Ozpin concluded as he adjusted his glasses.

"Oh come on!" Hannah complained loudly. Aldric looked at her from the side and said: "Hannah, you can't just-"

"Miss Himel", Professor Ozpin interrupted Aldric. "Are you dissatisfied with your assignment? What is on your mind?"

"With all due respect, Professor", Hannah began after shooting her father her trademark poisonous look and quickly thought of how to best word her concerns and complaints.

"I don't think it's fair for you to treat us differently than the other teams just because we're a bit behind in combat training. I understand that we're not performing as well as we could, but this is the perfect opportunity for us to work together and overcome our problems, sir. Shouldn't we be the ones to figure out how to best apply our strengths?" Hannah explained. Professor Ozpin chuckled, making Hannah more angry.

"Miss Himel are you aware as to why I placed you four on a team together?"

"Well, based on our name I would assume it was in order to teach us the value of teamwork."

"Not exactly", Professor Ozpin walked around to the window of his office and said: "I put you four on a team to be a sort of… Special Operations team." Hannah couldn't believe what she's just heard him say. Them? A SpecOps unit? Was he serious?

"Honestly students- Look at yourselves", He said and team HAVC looked at each other a little confused as to what he was referring to. "You have airborne reconnaissance with a _very_ flashy weapon, almost unnatural strength, unrivaled stealth as well as distraction paired with the ability to put multiple enemies out of commission at once", Professor Ozpin explained as he gestured towards Hannah, Aldric, Caroline and ultimately Vybe one after another.

"Do you still not see it? You are all very powerful, but combined you have a unique gift! A gift I plan to use to its fullest potential. A SpecOps unit's primary goal that must always be prioritized above any other is for them to return to base or their superior alive so they can report in", Ozpin continued explaining, as he placed his Scroll on the desk and a holovid of their first fight as a team in the Emerald Forest popped up. Their bout with the Giant Nevermore. Hannah still didn't quite understand.

"Professor, what are you trying to-"

"I put you four on a team, miss Himel, because of your breathtaking natural talents for Chaos. Havoc. Mayhem.", Professor Ozpin smiled at them, as the holovid expanded and showed all of their battles and training matches so far, which, now that Hannah saw it all in front of her were all compiled of a lot of improvisation, explosions and fire, very loud music, screaming and shouting.

 _Is he serious?_ "You are the perfect combination of talents for a team that specializes in Stealth Operations. Many such units have no backup, no plan B, no way of retreat and regroup. Your team needs to only give the word, and irreparable chaos ensues. It is true, that this is not exactly playing into your strengths as the main objective, except for miss Mearam here, but rather as a foolproof backup. A fail safe." Professor Ozpin adjusted his glasses.

Vybe who had been listening slightly confused put his arms behind his head in a leaning back fashion and said: "So, let me get this straight. You put us on a team because of our abilities to – should something go wrong – get out of whatever sticky situation we're in because we can just cause mass confusion and chaos by… letting loose?"

Professor Ozpin smiled at him. "Well put, Mister Berg. If push comes to shove, sow seeds of Discord. That being said", he continued as he quickly scribbled something down on a piece of paper. "I advise you to work on and develop your talent for chaos. It's a unique and often unpredictable skill, but if done right, you could add a certain precision to it."

Team HAVC were all just staring at Professor Ozpin. It took them all a while to process the information they'd just gotten. Hannah looked at Aldric, who had an eyebrow raised as well. They locked eyes for a moment and Aldric shrugged and shook is head in a 'I didn't know about this either' fashion.

"Now. Since I've filled you in on your role in this scheme a little bit ahead of schedule, I may as well let you in on our true objective with this mission. Has Aldric told you about our… partnership yet?" Professor Ozpin continued as he sat back down behind his desk.

"You mean the reason why you picked a man who couldn't even read at the time off the street and had enroll at your school? It's come up, but he insisted he couldn't tell us- me yet..." Hannah said, slightly angry. She's wanted to know this part of Aldric's story for a long while now and asking multiple times unsuccessfully had made this subject a little bit of a sore spot for her.

"I didn't pick him off the street, I had him released into my care by the police", Professor Ozpin explained. Hannah couldn't believe what she was hearing. She turned to Aldric.

"He got you out of _Prison_?!" She asked in disbelief. Aldric laughed nervously and took a step back. "Yeah, well… surprise?" Hannah facepalmed. This was the kind of information that stressed Hannah out when hearing about it.

"Good work Aldric. I told you you couldn't tell anyone and you stayed true to that. I'm grateful.", Professor Ozpin continued. "Well, I recruited Aldric here as an ally in our off the books battle with the White Fang." Hannah noticed that Vybe was suddenly very sharp and listening intensely.

"Like I said before, Grimm activity in Forever Fall has been unnaturally low, and I believe that it has some form of connection to the White Fang, since they have been equally inactive for a while now and both these recessions in activity started at roughly the same time. So, officially you're going on a Grimm Extermination mission, but off the books, you're going on a Reconnaissance mission, keeping an eye out and investigating the area for any and all White Fang activity and if my hunch is correct, you will find out what they are doing and let me know. That is all. Any questions?"

All of team HAVC lifted their hands.

* * *

 **TADAAAAAAA! Big reveal! Team** **HAVC** **was formed to create...** **Havoc** **!**


	12. IMPORTANT STORY NOTICE

Hey reader(s)! Sorry for my horrible absence and sorry to anyone who might have hoped for this to be an update but I've been dealing with life on a daily basis for a long time now and probably will for a while. To anyone who might be wondering: No, this story is (probably) not dead, just discontinued for now. That being said, I've had a long time to think about what I've written so far and I've decided to rebrand this story. The plot itself will stay the same, but key events and character names are going to change.


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